The Favor
The following story line is mine. Don't try to copy it cause I'll get mad
In a like vain, Star Trek The Next Generation and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.
"Jean-Luc"
"Beverly" She seemed in a rush as she brushed past Jean-Luc and into the bathroom area. She immediately began pulling the pins out of her hair while smiling back at him through the mirror.
"How was your day?" she asked.
"Fine. Raylyn stopped by not too long ago and we had a pleasant chat" he answered.
"That's good" Beverly said and started to disrobe. Aware that the Picard she knew would obviously not be uncomfortable standing around while she undressed, he tried to act non-chalant and at the same time not look. He went to his desk and pretended to be organizing the PADDs that he had been making notes on. The talks would begin in two weeks, which left little time for him to become familiar with years of history. Mr. Data had been appraised of the situation, as had Geordi but no one else, and they had developed a schedule which would allow both the Captain and the android plenty of time for both study and bridge duty.
"Jean-Luc will you please start ordering dinner? I'm sorry I'm so late, Barclay came into Sickbay just as I was on my way out!" Beverly requested from the shower.
"Yes, of course. What would you like?" he asked, grateful to have an occupation to keep his mind off of the shower and the bed.
"I think we're supposed to be having spaghetti" his "wife" answered, now stepping out of the shower, "Raylyn's recipe, she doesn't care for mine" Jean-Luc tried hard not to stare at Beverly, who was only now wrapping a towel about herself. Her hair was still dripping, hanging down her back in strings. Her long legs were well exposed by the towel, as was her upper back and bare arms. Jean-Luc had never seen her so...unclothed. He inwardly shook himself and tried to focus.
"Raylyn?" he asked. She was drying her hair with the aid of a blow- dryer, a piece of feminine equipment Jean-Luc had little experience with.
"Yes. Oh, you don't know! They come for dinner every Monday, Wednesday and Friday" Beverly told him quickly. Her hair dry, she was sorting through the closet for an appropriate outfit.
"They should be here any minute! I could strangle Barclay!" She finally selected something, mauve colored outfit, and quickly began to don it. Jean-Luc turned to the replicator and began to order enough spaghetti for four. The door chimed just as Beverly slipped her foot into her shoe.
"Come in!" she called pleasantly, as if she'd been completely ready for a good 20 minutes. Jean-Luc turned to greet his daughter and Will and almost didn't catch the blur that ran in through the doors and immediately hid itself behind the couch, where Jean-Luc couldn't see it.
"John William Riker, I've just about had enough of you!" Raylyn cried, exasperation flooding her voice. She was dressed all in dark purple, a color that matched her complexion perfectly. She rolled her eyes as she crossed to Jean-Luc and gave him another kiss on the cheek. She apparently did that quite often. Jean-Luc found it rather pleasant, if he were to be totally honest with himself.
"Come sit with Granma, J.W." Beverly held her arms out as she seated herself on the long couch beneath the window. Will came in behind Raylyn and squeezed her shoulder to show his support. Raylyn shook her head and went to join Beverly, who was now holding a small boy on her lap.
A new sense of wonderment hit Jean-Luc. He was a grandfather? He almost laughed with the joy of it all. This alternate world Q had dumped him in was in every way Jean-Luc's dream world. He was commander of the Enterprise, a leading figure in Starfleet, he was happily married to Beverly and he had a daughter, who was happily married to the one person (other than Beverly of course) that Jean-Luc could truly call his best friend. And now he had a grandson. It was like a cherry atop his favorite sundae.
"John William?" he asked quietly of Will, who was still standing by the replicator with him.
"Mmm. Ray wanted to name him Jean-Luc, I of course wanted to name him William Thomas. We compromised" Will smiled lopsidedly. Jean-Luc took a breath and crossed the room to where the boy was struggling now to get away from his "Granma". He could not have been older than three, Jean-Luc would put him at 2 and a half. He looked remarkably like Will, except, his nose was more like his mother's, and in turn Jean-Luc's. And he appeared to have a healthy dose of both parents determination, for he finally won loose of his grandmother's strong hold.
And ran straight into Jean-Luc's legs.
"Good evening, J.W." Jean-Luc said seriously, though inside he was grinning. J.W. looked up and scrunched his brow up. Jean-Luc recognized the look of someone who knew they'd just made a mistake.
"Have you been giving your mother trouble?" Jean-Luc inquired. J.W. took a moment to consider, then started to shake his head, all the while looking up at his grandfather's face. Jean-Luc raised a brow. J.W. quickly turned the shake into a nod.
"Well, you had better shape up, or may not get any desert tonight" the Captain told the small boy. He was still uncomfortable with children, but after five years aboard a ship full of them he was getting better at it. Besides which, for some reason, he found it immensely less unpleasant to deal with his own offspring (once removed) than he would have expected. The thought that perhaps he hadn't been such a bad parent seeped into his head and gave him a measure of comfort.
"Papa, I'd love a glass of Merlot" Raylyn requested. Jean-Luc raised a brow. He was about to head to the replicator, Will having scooped up his young son, when Raylyn stopped him.
"No. The real thing" Very few people knew that Jean-Luc kept a few bottles of wine from his family vineyard in his cabin. He supposed, however, he would share such a fact with his family and so he headed to his "hiding place."
"J.W., why don't you play with your toys until dinner's ready?" Will suggested. J.W. toddled over to the far end of the couch and drug out a wicker basket full of play things. He obviously spent a lot of time with his grandparents. Jean-Luc settled next to Beverly as the child's parents settled into the love seat facing the couch, Raylyn sipping her wine wistfully.
"Do you know we had to have Geordi install force fields around his bed so he wouldn't break his neck falling out of it?" Raylyn told them with a tired sigh. Will wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Rough day?" Beverly asked gently, with a knowing smile. Jean-Luc wondered what she knew, and Will looked like he was in the dark.
"I'm fine, Mom" Raylyn answered, "Geordi, Data and I had a hard time with the overhaul and this whole business with the Cardassians! I'm just tired" Beverly nodded, a secret smile on her lips.
"Why don't you come down to sick bay tomorrow? I'll make sure you're not coming down with something" Raylyn nodded silently. Just then the replicator chimed, announcing that dinner was ready. They all took their places, J.W. between Beverly and Raylyn. The evening proved to be a learning experience for Jean-Luc, who was unfamiliar with the tendencies of small children to make noise and mess. The little man made quite a mess of his spaghetti and Jean-Luc could tell that by the end of the evening Raylyn was ready to lock him in his room for the rest of the mission. Will must've noticed too because he was the one to deal with the rambunctious tyke, who was squalling about wanting to stay with "Grandpapa and Granma" as the young family headed down the corridor to their own quarters.
Beverly sighed as she began to clear the table.
"He's become such a handful every since he turned two!" she said needlessly, "Wesley was never that much trouble" Jean-Luc chuckled.
"I have a feeling that Raylyn was. It runs in my family. For that matter, so probably was Will. J.W. has been double doused" Beverly chuckled too.
"Yes, I suppose he has. I'm just glad it was just the four of us tonight. He would have gone absolutely bananas if the rest had been here!" Beverly said.
"The rest?" Jean-Luc looked up startled. Beverly was looking for a book, but she paused her search and looked back at him.
"Yes. Family dinners means the entire family" she told him with that mischievous smile of hers, "Deanna and Wyatt, plus their four year old triplets, Ian, Andrew and Ana, and since Lwaxana's on board she would have of course come. If Wesley were here he'd come of course, and Jason too, but he's usually so busy on Kamor. And then Data and Laal. Sometimes Guinan even comes. A lot of the time we just go to the holideck so we can have more space! Oh and you should see it when we're on Betazed, with Kestra and all of her kids, even when we visit Robert on Earth we have a hard time finding a table we all fit at"
Jean-Luc almost didn't take it all in. He had to think second to sort out all of the names she'd said. Wyatt would most likely be Wyatt Miller, the man that Deanna had been betrothed to since she was very young.(Jean- Luc wondered about that situation. It had gone very differently in his reality. He again wondered if Deanna and Will were Imazadi here) They had triplets, Beverly had said, Ian, Andrew and Ana. Lwaxana was Jean-Luc's sister in law, and hence apparently part of the family. Those people he could understand, his daughter had been raised in the Troi household. Raylyn very likely considered Deanna her sister and most likely Lwaxana as a mother, though she called Beverly Mom and Lwaxana Aunt. Wesley was, of course, part of the family and would be included in a family dinner, but...
"Jason?" "You're son, with a woman named Miranda Vigo. It happened after Chaza had died, when you were on shore leave on Earth" Beverly told him, "Fortunately, the Klingon ship bringing the Ambassadors was going through the Kamor system and you were able to get him a ride, so he'll arrive with them." He had a son as well? Did the wonders never end? "Miranda?" Jean-Luc wanted to contemplate that but there were other questions to ask. "Data and Laal?" Jean-Luc asked. Beverly had abandoned the idea of a book and was pulling her pajamas on. Jean-Luc followed suit.
"Well, he did formally request to adopt you as a father after he created Laal. He wanted a larger family for her" Beverly said and slid into the bed, "He's doing so well with her, she's come so far" Jean-Luc mindlessly slipped into the bed next to her.
"I didn't realize my family had enlarged so much" he told her, mulling it all over in his head. There were.what? Seventeen that Beverly had mentioned, and those were just those that he regularly associated with? For a man who was used to a solitary kind of life it all sounded..loud. And messy. And probably a good deal confusing.
"Don't worry" Beverly laid a hand on his heart as she snuggled closer to him, "You do a marvelous job of it all"
And it wasn't until 20 minutes later when Beverly was sound asleep that Jean-Luc realized he didn't feel at all uncomfortable next to her.
The following story line is mine. Don't try to copy it cause I'll get mad
In a like vain, Star Trek The Next Generation and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.
"Jean-Luc"
"Beverly" She seemed in a rush as she brushed past Jean-Luc and into the bathroom area. She immediately began pulling the pins out of her hair while smiling back at him through the mirror.
"How was your day?" she asked.
"Fine. Raylyn stopped by not too long ago and we had a pleasant chat" he answered.
"That's good" Beverly said and started to disrobe. Aware that the Picard she knew would obviously not be uncomfortable standing around while she undressed, he tried to act non-chalant and at the same time not look. He went to his desk and pretended to be organizing the PADDs that he had been making notes on. The talks would begin in two weeks, which left little time for him to become familiar with years of history. Mr. Data had been appraised of the situation, as had Geordi but no one else, and they had developed a schedule which would allow both the Captain and the android plenty of time for both study and bridge duty.
"Jean-Luc will you please start ordering dinner? I'm sorry I'm so late, Barclay came into Sickbay just as I was on my way out!" Beverly requested from the shower.
"Yes, of course. What would you like?" he asked, grateful to have an occupation to keep his mind off of the shower and the bed.
"I think we're supposed to be having spaghetti" his "wife" answered, now stepping out of the shower, "Raylyn's recipe, she doesn't care for mine" Jean-Luc tried hard not to stare at Beverly, who was only now wrapping a towel about herself. Her hair was still dripping, hanging down her back in strings. Her long legs were well exposed by the towel, as was her upper back and bare arms. Jean-Luc had never seen her so...unclothed. He inwardly shook himself and tried to focus.
"Raylyn?" he asked. She was drying her hair with the aid of a blow- dryer, a piece of feminine equipment Jean-Luc had little experience with.
"Yes. Oh, you don't know! They come for dinner every Monday, Wednesday and Friday" Beverly told him quickly. Her hair dry, she was sorting through the closet for an appropriate outfit.
"They should be here any minute! I could strangle Barclay!" She finally selected something, mauve colored outfit, and quickly began to don it. Jean-Luc turned to the replicator and began to order enough spaghetti for four. The door chimed just as Beverly slipped her foot into her shoe.
"Come in!" she called pleasantly, as if she'd been completely ready for a good 20 minutes. Jean-Luc turned to greet his daughter and Will and almost didn't catch the blur that ran in through the doors and immediately hid itself behind the couch, where Jean-Luc couldn't see it.
"John William Riker, I've just about had enough of you!" Raylyn cried, exasperation flooding her voice. She was dressed all in dark purple, a color that matched her complexion perfectly. She rolled her eyes as she crossed to Jean-Luc and gave him another kiss on the cheek. She apparently did that quite often. Jean-Luc found it rather pleasant, if he were to be totally honest with himself.
"Come sit with Granma, J.W." Beverly held her arms out as she seated herself on the long couch beneath the window. Will came in behind Raylyn and squeezed her shoulder to show his support. Raylyn shook her head and went to join Beverly, who was now holding a small boy on her lap.
A new sense of wonderment hit Jean-Luc. He was a grandfather? He almost laughed with the joy of it all. This alternate world Q had dumped him in was in every way Jean-Luc's dream world. He was commander of the Enterprise, a leading figure in Starfleet, he was happily married to Beverly and he had a daughter, who was happily married to the one person (other than Beverly of course) that Jean-Luc could truly call his best friend. And now he had a grandson. It was like a cherry atop his favorite sundae.
"John William?" he asked quietly of Will, who was still standing by the replicator with him.
"Mmm. Ray wanted to name him Jean-Luc, I of course wanted to name him William Thomas. We compromised" Will smiled lopsidedly. Jean-Luc took a breath and crossed the room to where the boy was struggling now to get away from his "Granma". He could not have been older than three, Jean-Luc would put him at 2 and a half. He looked remarkably like Will, except, his nose was more like his mother's, and in turn Jean-Luc's. And he appeared to have a healthy dose of both parents determination, for he finally won loose of his grandmother's strong hold.
And ran straight into Jean-Luc's legs.
"Good evening, J.W." Jean-Luc said seriously, though inside he was grinning. J.W. looked up and scrunched his brow up. Jean-Luc recognized the look of someone who knew they'd just made a mistake.
"Have you been giving your mother trouble?" Jean-Luc inquired. J.W. took a moment to consider, then started to shake his head, all the while looking up at his grandfather's face. Jean-Luc raised a brow. J.W. quickly turned the shake into a nod.
"Well, you had better shape up, or may not get any desert tonight" the Captain told the small boy. He was still uncomfortable with children, but after five years aboard a ship full of them he was getting better at it. Besides which, for some reason, he found it immensely less unpleasant to deal with his own offspring (once removed) than he would have expected. The thought that perhaps he hadn't been such a bad parent seeped into his head and gave him a measure of comfort.
"Papa, I'd love a glass of Merlot" Raylyn requested. Jean-Luc raised a brow. He was about to head to the replicator, Will having scooped up his young son, when Raylyn stopped him.
"No. The real thing" Very few people knew that Jean-Luc kept a few bottles of wine from his family vineyard in his cabin. He supposed, however, he would share such a fact with his family and so he headed to his "hiding place."
"J.W., why don't you play with your toys until dinner's ready?" Will suggested. J.W. toddled over to the far end of the couch and drug out a wicker basket full of play things. He obviously spent a lot of time with his grandparents. Jean-Luc settled next to Beverly as the child's parents settled into the love seat facing the couch, Raylyn sipping her wine wistfully.
"Do you know we had to have Geordi install force fields around his bed so he wouldn't break his neck falling out of it?" Raylyn told them with a tired sigh. Will wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Rough day?" Beverly asked gently, with a knowing smile. Jean-Luc wondered what she knew, and Will looked like he was in the dark.
"I'm fine, Mom" Raylyn answered, "Geordi, Data and I had a hard time with the overhaul and this whole business with the Cardassians! I'm just tired" Beverly nodded, a secret smile on her lips.
"Why don't you come down to sick bay tomorrow? I'll make sure you're not coming down with something" Raylyn nodded silently. Just then the replicator chimed, announcing that dinner was ready. They all took their places, J.W. between Beverly and Raylyn. The evening proved to be a learning experience for Jean-Luc, who was unfamiliar with the tendencies of small children to make noise and mess. The little man made quite a mess of his spaghetti and Jean-Luc could tell that by the end of the evening Raylyn was ready to lock him in his room for the rest of the mission. Will must've noticed too because he was the one to deal with the rambunctious tyke, who was squalling about wanting to stay with "Grandpapa and Granma" as the young family headed down the corridor to their own quarters.
Beverly sighed as she began to clear the table.
"He's become such a handful every since he turned two!" she said needlessly, "Wesley was never that much trouble" Jean-Luc chuckled.
"I have a feeling that Raylyn was. It runs in my family. For that matter, so probably was Will. J.W. has been double doused" Beverly chuckled too.
"Yes, I suppose he has. I'm just glad it was just the four of us tonight. He would have gone absolutely bananas if the rest had been here!" Beverly said.
"The rest?" Jean-Luc looked up startled. Beverly was looking for a book, but she paused her search and looked back at him.
"Yes. Family dinners means the entire family" she told him with that mischievous smile of hers, "Deanna and Wyatt, plus their four year old triplets, Ian, Andrew and Ana, and since Lwaxana's on board she would have of course come. If Wesley were here he'd come of course, and Jason too, but he's usually so busy on Kamor. And then Data and Laal. Sometimes Guinan even comes. A lot of the time we just go to the holideck so we can have more space! Oh and you should see it when we're on Betazed, with Kestra and all of her kids, even when we visit Robert on Earth we have a hard time finding a table we all fit at"
Jean-Luc almost didn't take it all in. He had to think second to sort out all of the names she'd said. Wyatt would most likely be Wyatt Miller, the man that Deanna had been betrothed to since she was very young.(Jean- Luc wondered about that situation. It had gone very differently in his reality. He again wondered if Deanna and Will were Imazadi here) They had triplets, Beverly had said, Ian, Andrew and Ana. Lwaxana was Jean-Luc's sister in law, and hence apparently part of the family. Those people he could understand, his daughter had been raised in the Troi household. Raylyn very likely considered Deanna her sister and most likely Lwaxana as a mother, though she called Beverly Mom and Lwaxana Aunt. Wesley was, of course, part of the family and would be included in a family dinner, but...
"Jason?" "You're son, with a woman named Miranda Vigo. It happened after Chaza had died, when you were on shore leave on Earth" Beverly told him, "Fortunately, the Klingon ship bringing the Ambassadors was going through the Kamor system and you were able to get him a ride, so he'll arrive with them." He had a son as well? Did the wonders never end? "Miranda?" Jean-Luc wanted to contemplate that but there were other questions to ask. "Data and Laal?" Jean-Luc asked. Beverly had abandoned the idea of a book and was pulling her pajamas on. Jean-Luc followed suit.
"Well, he did formally request to adopt you as a father after he created Laal. He wanted a larger family for her" Beverly said and slid into the bed, "He's doing so well with her, she's come so far" Jean-Luc mindlessly slipped into the bed next to her.
"I didn't realize my family had enlarged so much" he told her, mulling it all over in his head. There were.what? Seventeen that Beverly had mentioned, and those were just those that he regularly associated with? For a man who was used to a solitary kind of life it all sounded..loud. And messy. And probably a good deal confusing.
"Don't worry" Beverly laid a hand on his heart as she snuggled closer to him, "You do a marvelous job of it all"
And it wasn't until 20 minutes later when Beverly was sound asleep that Jean-Luc realized he didn't feel at all uncomfortable next to her.