Wow, I posted this *quick*! Well. pretty quickly for *me*. So what do you
think is the answer? Yes? No? Hehe.. ^ - ^
Well, one new thing in this chapter I have to have a disclaimer for..
*sigh*.. Al Bhed. All you *need* to know if you don't know what it is already: it is a language from Final Fantasy X, and possibly also in Final
Fantasy X-2. I am in NO way connected with either, because I am just a
measly otaku/gamer, and not POSSIBLY smart enough to come up with a pronounceable language that involves exchanging one letter of the English
alphabet with another.
(By the way, any of you out there that have played FFX and know the
frustration of actually DECIPHERING the Al Bhed language without the
majority of the letters and also minus all internet help will, like me,
understand well that little brief segment in this chapter.)
And now begins the chapter. *Evil laugh*
Chapter 16
Future Planning
"It's too early to tell," she said finally.
We all were able to relax then, our worries suspended- at least for the moment.
"We may be able to know by early this evening, and if not, by tomorrow at latest."
We both nodded, David still looking extremely nervous, but still ready to accept either answer. Although only barely, it seemed.
I eyed him cautiously, waiting for something, though I wasn't sure what. Possibly a burst of apprehension or another bout of fidgeting that would end in him needing my comfort- but nothing happened. He just stood there, staring at the computer monitor, reading the words in that obviously distracted way, passing over every line, scanning each and every one, but never really comprehending a word.
I listened to Phlox and Rei'Ahn for a while, letting them say what they wanted, only somewhat paying attention through it. My recovery wasn't what was on my mind, wasn't what was bothering me at the moment. I really didn't care how I was doing, or if what we did worked to help me. What did it matter now?
But whether I cared or not, I had to know, so I listened as they told me that it would probably take a full day or two for me to begin to gather back my strength, and that I would hopefully be out of the hospital by the end of the week. I sat, nodding, and waiting for my opportunity to get out of there. Desperate to escape the confines of the room I had been so restricted to, when it seemed quieted down, I asked to leave. As bluntly as that.
Rei'Ahn nodded reluctantly, and helped me up and into a wheelchair, pushing me out the door and down the hall. I had no idea where we were going, and no idea where I *wanted* to go, so I was willing to let her push me anywhere.
There were stares as we passed people by, mostly the patients but sometimes the nurses and doctors, stares that I was familiar with but not accustomed to. I hated them. Not the people, just the stares. They made you feel so different, so... disgusting. You felt degraded- like you were standing there in front of them doing the basest thing you could think to do, or were standing there wearing absolutely nothing at all. It was an awful stare- like you were offending them in some way by just being there, by just existing.
I turned around to look at Rei'Ahn. Her face was straight, but not angry. Not happy, mind you, but not angry. I wished I had her tolerance. I knew I had tried, but I couldn't help but hate the way I felt when someone stared.
"Thank you," I told her at last.
"For what?"
"...Everything." I knew it was a lame thing to say, but I didn't really know how to say it any other way. She had saved my life, given me a new chance to make up for everything I had done, and now she was pushing me through the halls where she was enduring the same glares I was. It took a strong person to do all of that on a daily basis, with new patients all the time that expected that of her. But I *didn't*. I knew it was too much to ask of a person, to force them through that always, and to keep a smile on as they suffered through it.
She was silent, though I wasn't sure whether she didn't know how to respond, or if she just didn't feel one was necessary.
"How d' you put up with it all the time?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"All these stares.... Ya act like ya don't even see 'em."
Another silence, save for the scraping of the plastic and metal wheels and the noise of the activity around us.
"It's difficult not to see them," she quietly told me, somewhat sadly. "But I've been to Earth enough to realize that people like us- people that look different from humans- tend to be frightening to them. As it is with most new experiences. They tend to be either frightened or intrigued."
"Most of the time," I mumbled, remembering Sam and Rob.
"True," she agreed. "I have had my share of angry welcomes. But no matter what, I try to remember that I'm very new to them. And just as a small child is frightened by a friendly stranger, many humans feel the same toward... aliens," she finished, finding the word she was looking for.
I wasn't too happy that her analogy compared humans to small children, but in this case, it seemed true. The glares were in innocence, out of curiosity, and weren't meant to be hurtful. Well... *most* weren't.
Coming out of my thoughts, I finally knew that she was taking me to the hospital's cafeteria. When we entered, she brought me toward the table where my father, Jon, Malcolm, Hoshi, and Travis sat. They all looked up when they saw me coming, and smiled to see me out of my bed, out of my room. I was pushed over to the end of the table, where no chairs were, and smiled wearily at their greetings while Rei'Ahn walked back to my room.
They all asked how I was for a little while, but then asked the question I knew they all wanted the answer to: "How's David?" I just told them we didn't know yet, not in the mood to explain anything. It's funny how you have to be in the mood to explain something.
"So, what'd I miss, guys?" I asked everyone, wanting desperately to change the subject.
"Oh..." began Jon, speaking the word as a sigh as I had known him to do, "just a few stories."
"You missed a good one," Travis commented, then turned and gave Hoshi a smile.
"It wasn't *that* funny," she grumbled, but in good nature and with a grin.
"I can imagine *you* thought it was a pretty nasty joke," Malcolm chuckled.
"It *was*!" she whined, shaking her head.
"What'd they do?" I asked. I couldn't wait. I had always loved pranks, from the minute my dad turned the sink's spray on me. I was pretty soggy afterward, but still, it was fun.
Hoshi rolled her eyes, sighing. "Okay. But first, you have to understand, we were all bored to death with nothing to do." She took a minute to ready herself for the story, then began. "As I said, it was getting pretty dull, and so one morning, they decided it would be just *hilarious*" -and she accented "hilarious" to be sarcastic, much to the enjoyment of the men at the table- "to pull a prank on me. The Captain woke me up *early* to tell me that we were hailed by an alien ship, and they need my help because the UT was malfunctioning or *something,* and couldn't understand the message."
At that point in the story she looked to Jon, who had his hand tugging at his mouth to try to hide the smile, and shook her head. "How professional."
"It wasn't my idea," he defended, laughing. "I was just going along with it."
She flashed him a playful glare, then continued on. "I had absolutely *no* idea what kind of language it was, none of it made any sense. I tried to break it down so many ways.... I tried *everything* I could think of. I spent a whole day doing this...." She shook her head again. "Well, I finally gave up when you"- she meant Jon, and pointed at him like she were accusing him of a crime- "came over laughing, and asked me how the translating was going. I was so mad when you told me it wasn't an actual language."
Malcolm let out the laugh he had been holding back. "So did you enjoy the message we had for you?"
I gave her a confused look, and so she continued with her story, leading up to her explanation.
"That night, they sent a letter to my quarters. Titled, 'The Answer to Your Torment for the Day.' I opened it up, and it said, 'Al Bhed Translation,' and had each letter of the alphabet and what it stood for. The whole time, the damn message was in English."
Laughter erupted at the table.
*I*, on the other hand, had no idea what Al Bhed was, and so even though it *was* funny, it wasn't hilarious. But the prank itself was great, *I* thought.
"Jerks," she grumbled.
I waited for them to regain some control, then asked, "So what was the message?" but then they laughed even harder.
"At first it was just, 'We're sorry, Hoshi, but we couldn't help ourselves,' and things like that, a few sentences from everyone involved, but then they had put a joke on there too. which I'm *not* going to repeat."
I tried to suppress the urge to laugh, but a grin came through along with a snort I really wished I hadn't exchanged for the laugh.
She glared at them all. "Real mature, guys."
"Wasn't *my* idea," Malcolm defended as Jon had.
"Well then, whose was it? I think after almost thirty years, *someone* can admit to it."
I looked around the table, my eyes locking on my dad when he ducked his head aside, trying to stifle back a grin that gave him away.
"Trip?" she laughed, trying to reach over Travis to whap him on the head, though unsuccessfully, because Travis had her. "I can't *believe* you!" she giggled. "An awful prank and a dirty joke on top of it!"
"Well, I knew ya wouldn't hurt me at the time!" he said, backing away in his chair and ducking another attempt of Hoshi's to actually land her hit.
"That doesn't mean I won't hurt you now," she joked, but giving up her goal for the moment and sitting back in her chair.
"Better sleep with one eye open," Travis warned him.
"Hm." Dad said back, in fact paying very little attention to Travis, his eyes now looking over my shoulder at the door.
"What?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to turn to look on account of possibly not having the strength. I finally did look, but saw no one there- only a glimpse of a person leaving. All I really did was get a headache: a reminder that I wasn't fully recovered yet.
I, feeling the room blur and my stomach turn, rested my head in my hands and my elbows on the table in a sad attempt to bring the swaying room to a stop.
"You wanna go back upstairs?" Dad asked me, concerned that I may injure myself even further by just staying there, and possibly pass out.
"No, not really," I told him. "I've been up there for too long."
I really wished that it was long enough, but my head spun, and even my eyes hurt. I just really didn't want to go back. Because there in that room was Phlox and Rei'Ahn and David, all constant reminders that I was recovering, I was not well and shouldn't expect to be, and that I may or may not soon be a mother.
Dad put his hand on my shoulder, watching me carefully.
I looked up to see Jon glaring at my father with a look that said, "I thought she was going to be okay."
"I'm okay. I just... turned around too quick, that's all," I explained to everyone.
All of them relaxed at that, relieved that at least I was well enough to offer an explanation.
Dad nodded, and stood. "C'mon. I'll push ya back t' yer room."
I looked down guiltily. "That's. that's alright. I kinda wanna stay here for a while."
The rest of them exchanged uncomfortable glances through an uneasy silence.
"I think we'll go back up to the room," Jon informed us, sensing the tension of the oncoming conversation between me and my father, then leaving with the others.
I watched them leave, not looking over to Dad, who was sitting now.
"Listen, K'Ela..." he began softly, "I know ya don't wanna go back there 'cause ya don't wanna face the possibility that David's pregnant.."
"Dad," I interrupted, but he wanted to finish.
"Hold on. Jus'... hold on a minute. You gotta know this." He heaved out a heavy sigh, then ran his hand back through his hair. "Yer the only one not okay with this. D'ya know that?"
I opened my mouth, but said nothing.
"Everyone else is okay with it, but I don't think you know that," he said again. "Yer too busy tellin' yerself yer worried about how everyone'll take it, but yer not seein' that *yer* the one that's not sure how t' face it."
"But you've seen 'im, Dad- ya know he's scared!" I insisted.
"A'course he's scared! I don't know a person that *wouldn't* be at first." He waited a moment, then told me, hardening his voice, "It doesn't matter if yer a man or a woman, yer scared, K'Ela. Yer scared yer not ready, yer scared you'll screw up, yer scared somethin' might happen.... Ya can't help it. It's too big of a thing t' *not* be afraid."
My lips quivered a bit as I fought back tears. "I don't wanna hurt him like Ah'Len hurt you."
His face and voice lost all hardness and strength, and his mouth fell into a large frown. He didn't have anything really to say to that. "We've talked about this before. That was different. That was *much* different, an' you know that."
"How d' you *know* that, though? How d' you know that somethin' won't happen, an' it'll end up hurtin' him just as much?"
"I *know*," he insisted. "David's not...." He hesitated to say what he was about to say, but then said it anyway. "I was livin' my dream. I had spent twelve years at Starfleet so I could be on that mission. David isn't doin' anythin' he wouldn't wanna give up."
There was a lull in the conversation, and so I went off on a tangent, deciding to speak what was on my mind.
"I hate Ah'Len for what she did," I revealed, my voice full of bitterness.
His eyes grew wide at hearing that, but he came back from the initial shock to respond. "Don't say that. Because of her I have *you*."
"Exactly," I told him, tears choking my voice.
"No," he said forcefully. "I don't hate Ah'Len for what she did, and neither should you. Don't be mad at her. All she did was help create a life. You should hate me; I helped take hers away. Along with the lives of thirty-five other people."
I stared hard into his sad eyes, eyes that wouldn't look up from a fixed spot on the table, but I said nothing.
"So don't *ever* say you wish you were never born. You were the best thing that ever happened t' me." He looked up finally, and I watched as silent tears slipped down his cheeks.
"Dad..." I said quietly, then reached over and hugged him. "I'm sorry.... I didn't mean t'. say anythin'.." I couldn't really find the right apology.
He managed a smile. "It's fine. Sometimes it's just hard... t' feel okay about somethin' like this." He bit at the side of his bottom lip. "Ya think you can go back t' David now? I really think he might want'cha t' be around. I know *I* would."
I gave him a half-smile, then nodded.
As we went back up to my room, I thought about everything that had happened between me and my father, at times glancing up at him. He seemed different, not like he had been weeks ago- not like the man I knew to be my father. He had become much more confident, more happy, as though a part of him had been renewed. Being around his friends really made him so much happier, and for that I was happy too.
When we arrived back at the room, David came over to me and helped me back to my bed; I was still considerably weak.
Almost right away, Dr. Phlox gestured Dad over, who looked a little confused, and asked, "Is K'Ela alright?" wondering why Phlox had called him over.
"Yes, yes," Phlox told him, almost annoyed, which surprised me a little. "Just come."
Dad blinked a few times, not sure what to think, but went with him anyway.
It didn't take me too long to discover that all of my visitors had gone with him, into, presumably, another room.
"What's goin' on?" I asked.
David swallowed with much difficulty. I could tell he was nervous- I saw the beads of sweat on his face, and I could almost hear his heart pounding relentlessly in his chest.
"David?"
He finally sat down on the bed across from me, and began. "Uh... listen, K'Ela... I don't want you to think I'm doing this just because we might...." His voice trailed off, but I at least got the general message. "I wanted to do this *weeks* ago, the day you would come back from your dad's." He laughed a little. "Well, that didn't exactly happen. But I wanna do this now, baby or no baby."
He struggled to adjust himself on the bed until he at last had himself on his knees. He had attempted a different position, but had failed, and so settled for that one. He had to sit on his feet to keep at my eye level, but settled for that as well.
"K'Ela..." he began, looking into my eyes, "I... I always knew you were special. And without you, I don't think I'd be the same person I am now. When I'm with you... nothing else seems to matter. When we're together... I feel complete. You have always been my friend, and over the years I've known you, you've come to be so much more than that to me. And I hope now... that you'll be even more to me... by being my wife."
As he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, square black box, it finally felt real, and the tears welled up in my eyes.
He opened it, and still looking into my eyes asked, "K'Ela... will you marry me?"
I allowed my grin to widen until my face hurt. "Yes," I said, overjoyed at his proposal.
He slipped the ring on my finger, and then kissed me, holding me close.
"I love you," he told me.
"I love you too."
I had never meant anything more in my life.
All of a sudden, what my dad said made perfect sense. If he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and if I wanted to spend the rest of *my* life with *him*, then having a baby together would just be another part of that.
I heard a door close and turned to see Phlox peeking around the curtain, the largest, creepiest grin I've ever seen stretched across his face. The grin returned to just a smile as he announced with a familiar happy lilt in his voice, "She said yes!"
Just then, everyone else came around the curtain as well, smiling and congratulating us.
Dad looked the happiest of all, though it was a reserved happiness that I knew well. He came over and hugged me tight until I wasn't sure if I would be able to breathe, and then stood and turned to David. I could tell he wasn't sure whether or not to hug *him* as well, but he did- though not as tightly as he had hugged me.
"You knew me ever since I was a kid, so I hope you're not planning on giving me a speech about not hurting her... one that involves you coming after me," David joked after my father let him go.
"I know you'd *never* hurt 'er," Dad said, completely straight-faced and serious, but his voice still light. "You love 'er too much."
I turned and looked into David's eyes. They sparkled with joy, with happiness, and a love you rarely see any place but movies. Only, this was real.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rei'Ahn, uncertain whether or not to come closer, but still determined to do her job as she had promised to do.
"I'm very sorry to interrupt..." she told us, coming in through the parting crowd toward David.
I could feel him tense up, unsure of how to react as Rei'Ahn raised the scanner over him once again. She nodded slowly in acknowledgement, pursing her lips as she eyed the scanner, then David. Then Dr. Phlox came over and stood behind her, briefly read the results, almost exactly copying her motions.
"Shall *I* announce the results, or *you*?" he asked her, causing my mind to scream out //Now is *NOT* the time to be polite!!!//
She gestured to him, indicating he should be the one, and stepped back to allow him the floor, so to speak.
"David..." he began, accenting his name oddly, "you *are* expecting."
***************
I was a little teeny bit mean leaving the answer until the end, huh? ^ - ^
Oh well! It just worked out that way.. (*cough* Because I purposely
*did* it that way..)
So now you can review.. Go on. You know you want to.
Well, one new thing in this chapter I have to have a disclaimer for..
*sigh*.. Al Bhed. All you *need* to know if you don't know what it is already: it is a language from Final Fantasy X, and possibly also in Final
Fantasy X-2. I am in NO way connected with either, because I am just a
measly otaku/gamer, and not POSSIBLY smart enough to come up with a pronounceable language that involves exchanging one letter of the English
alphabet with another.
(By the way, any of you out there that have played FFX and know the
frustration of actually DECIPHERING the Al Bhed language without the
majority of the letters and also minus all internet help will, like me,
understand well that little brief segment in this chapter.)
And now begins the chapter. *Evil laugh*
Chapter 16
Future Planning
"It's too early to tell," she said finally.
We all were able to relax then, our worries suspended- at least for the moment.
"We may be able to know by early this evening, and if not, by tomorrow at latest."
We both nodded, David still looking extremely nervous, but still ready to accept either answer. Although only barely, it seemed.
I eyed him cautiously, waiting for something, though I wasn't sure what. Possibly a burst of apprehension or another bout of fidgeting that would end in him needing my comfort- but nothing happened. He just stood there, staring at the computer monitor, reading the words in that obviously distracted way, passing over every line, scanning each and every one, but never really comprehending a word.
I listened to Phlox and Rei'Ahn for a while, letting them say what they wanted, only somewhat paying attention through it. My recovery wasn't what was on my mind, wasn't what was bothering me at the moment. I really didn't care how I was doing, or if what we did worked to help me. What did it matter now?
But whether I cared or not, I had to know, so I listened as they told me that it would probably take a full day or two for me to begin to gather back my strength, and that I would hopefully be out of the hospital by the end of the week. I sat, nodding, and waiting for my opportunity to get out of there. Desperate to escape the confines of the room I had been so restricted to, when it seemed quieted down, I asked to leave. As bluntly as that.
Rei'Ahn nodded reluctantly, and helped me up and into a wheelchair, pushing me out the door and down the hall. I had no idea where we were going, and no idea where I *wanted* to go, so I was willing to let her push me anywhere.
There were stares as we passed people by, mostly the patients but sometimes the nurses and doctors, stares that I was familiar with but not accustomed to. I hated them. Not the people, just the stares. They made you feel so different, so... disgusting. You felt degraded- like you were standing there in front of them doing the basest thing you could think to do, or were standing there wearing absolutely nothing at all. It was an awful stare- like you were offending them in some way by just being there, by just existing.
I turned around to look at Rei'Ahn. Her face was straight, but not angry. Not happy, mind you, but not angry. I wished I had her tolerance. I knew I had tried, but I couldn't help but hate the way I felt when someone stared.
"Thank you," I told her at last.
"For what?"
"...Everything." I knew it was a lame thing to say, but I didn't really know how to say it any other way. She had saved my life, given me a new chance to make up for everything I had done, and now she was pushing me through the halls where she was enduring the same glares I was. It took a strong person to do all of that on a daily basis, with new patients all the time that expected that of her. But I *didn't*. I knew it was too much to ask of a person, to force them through that always, and to keep a smile on as they suffered through it.
She was silent, though I wasn't sure whether she didn't know how to respond, or if she just didn't feel one was necessary.
"How d' you put up with it all the time?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"All these stares.... Ya act like ya don't even see 'em."
Another silence, save for the scraping of the plastic and metal wheels and the noise of the activity around us.
"It's difficult not to see them," she quietly told me, somewhat sadly. "But I've been to Earth enough to realize that people like us- people that look different from humans- tend to be frightening to them. As it is with most new experiences. They tend to be either frightened or intrigued."
"Most of the time," I mumbled, remembering Sam and Rob.
"True," she agreed. "I have had my share of angry welcomes. But no matter what, I try to remember that I'm very new to them. And just as a small child is frightened by a friendly stranger, many humans feel the same toward... aliens," she finished, finding the word she was looking for.
I wasn't too happy that her analogy compared humans to small children, but in this case, it seemed true. The glares were in innocence, out of curiosity, and weren't meant to be hurtful. Well... *most* weren't.
Coming out of my thoughts, I finally knew that she was taking me to the hospital's cafeteria. When we entered, she brought me toward the table where my father, Jon, Malcolm, Hoshi, and Travis sat. They all looked up when they saw me coming, and smiled to see me out of my bed, out of my room. I was pushed over to the end of the table, where no chairs were, and smiled wearily at their greetings while Rei'Ahn walked back to my room.
They all asked how I was for a little while, but then asked the question I knew they all wanted the answer to: "How's David?" I just told them we didn't know yet, not in the mood to explain anything. It's funny how you have to be in the mood to explain something.
"So, what'd I miss, guys?" I asked everyone, wanting desperately to change the subject.
"Oh..." began Jon, speaking the word as a sigh as I had known him to do, "just a few stories."
"You missed a good one," Travis commented, then turned and gave Hoshi a smile.
"It wasn't *that* funny," she grumbled, but in good nature and with a grin.
"I can imagine *you* thought it was a pretty nasty joke," Malcolm chuckled.
"It *was*!" she whined, shaking her head.
"What'd they do?" I asked. I couldn't wait. I had always loved pranks, from the minute my dad turned the sink's spray on me. I was pretty soggy afterward, but still, it was fun.
Hoshi rolled her eyes, sighing. "Okay. But first, you have to understand, we were all bored to death with nothing to do." She took a minute to ready herself for the story, then began. "As I said, it was getting pretty dull, and so one morning, they decided it would be just *hilarious*" -and she accented "hilarious" to be sarcastic, much to the enjoyment of the men at the table- "to pull a prank on me. The Captain woke me up *early* to tell me that we were hailed by an alien ship, and they need my help because the UT was malfunctioning or *something,* and couldn't understand the message."
At that point in the story she looked to Jon, who had his hand tugging at his mouth to try to hide the smile, and shook her head. "How professional."
"It wasn't my idea," he defended, laughing. "I was just going along with it."
She flashed him a playful glare, then continued on. "I had absolutely *no* idea what kind of language it was, none of it made any sense. I tried to break it down so many ways.... I tried *everything* I could think of. I spent a whole day doing this...." She shook her head again. "Well, I finally gave up when you"- she meant Jon, and pointed at him like she were accusing him of a crime- "came over laughing, and asked me how the translating was going. I was so mad when you told me it wasn't an actual language."
Malcolm let out the laugh he had been holding back. "So did you enjoy the message we had for you?"
I gave her a confused look, and so she continued with her story, leading up to her explanation.
"That night, they sent a letter to my quarters. Titled, 'The Answer to Your Torment for the Day.' I opened it up, and it said, 'Al Bhed Translation,' and had each letter of the alphabet and what it stood for. The whole time, the damn message was in English."
Laughter erupted at the table.
*I*, on the other hand, had no idea what Al Bhed was, and so even though it *was* funny, it wasn't hilarious. But the prank itself was great, *I* thought.
"Jerks," she grumbled.
I waited for them to regain some control, then asked, "So what was the message?" but then they laughed even harder.
"At first it was just, 'We're sorry, Hoshi, but we couldn't help ourselves,' and things like that, a few sentences from everyone involved, but then they had put a joke on there too. which I'm *not* going to repeat."
I tried to suppress the urge to laugh, but a grin came through along with a snort I really wished I hadn't exchanged for the laugh.
She glared at them all. "Real mature, guys."
"Wasn't *my* idea," Malcolm defended as Jon had.
"Well then, whose was it? I think after almost thirty years, *someone* can admit to it."
I looked around the table, my eyes locking on my dad when he ducked his head aside, trying to stifle back a grin that gave him away.
"Trip?" she laughed, trying to reach over Travis to whap him on the head, though unsuccessfully, because Travis had her. "I can't *believe* you!" she giggled. "An awful prank and a dirty joke on top of it!"
"Well, I knew ya wouldn't hurt me at the time!" he said, backing away in his chair and ducking another attempt of Hoshi's to actually land her hit.
"That doesn't mean I won't hurt you now," she joked, but giving up her goal for the moment and sitting back in her chair.
"Better sleep with one eye open," Travis warned him.
"Hm." Dad said back, in fact paying very little attention to Travis, his eyes now looking over my shoulder at the door.
"What?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to turn to look on account of possibly not having the strength. I finally did look, but saw no one there- only a glimpse of a person leaving. All I really did was get a headache: a reminder that I wasn't fully recovered yet.
I, feeling the room blur and my stomach turn, rested my head in my hands and my elbows on the table in a sad attempt to bring the swaying room to a stop.
"You wanna go back upstairs?" Dad asked me, concerned that I may injure myself even further by just staying there, and possibly pass out.
"No, not really," I told him. "I've been up there for too long."
I really wished that it was long enough, but my head spun, and even my eyes hurt. I just really didn't want to go back. Because there in that room was Phlox and Rei'Ahn and David, all constant reminders that I was recovering, I was not well and shouldn't expect to be, and that I may or may not soon be a mother.
Dad put his hand on my shoulder, watching me carefully.
I looked up to see Jon glaring at my father with a look that said, "I thought she was going to be okay."
"I'm okay. I just... turned around too quick, that's all," I explained to everyone.
All of them relaxed at that, relieved that at least I was well enough to offer an explanation.
Dad nodded, and stood. "C'mon. I'll push ya back t' yer room."
I looked down guiltily. "That's. that's alright. I kinda wanna stay here for a while."
The rest of them exchanged uncomfortable glances through an uneasy silence.
"I think we'll go back up to the room," Jon informed us, sensing the tension of the oncoming conversation between me and my father, then leaving with the others.
I watched them leave, not looking over to Dad, who was sitting now.
"Listen, K'Ela..." he began softly, "I know ya don't wanna go back there 'cause ya don't wanna face the possibility that David's pregnant.."
"Dad," I interrupted, but he wanted to finish.
"Hold on. Jus'... hold on a minute. You gotta know this." He heaved out a heavy sigh, then ran his hand back through his hair. "Yer the only one not okay with this. D'ya know that?"
I opened my mouth, but said nothing.
"Everyone else is okay with it, but I don't think you know that," he said again. "Yer too busy tellin' yerself yer worried about how everyone'll take it, but yer not seein' that *yer* the one that's not sure how t' face it."
"But you've seen 'im, Dad- ya know he's scared!" I insisted.
"A'course he's scared! I don't know a person that *wouldn't* be at first." He waited a moment, then told me, hardening his voice, "It doesn't matter if yer a man or a woman, yer scared, K'Ela. Yer scared yer not ready, yer scared you'll screw up, yer scared somethin' might happen.... Ya can't help it. It's too big of a thing t' *not* be afraid."
My lips quivered a bit as I fought back tears. "I don't wanna hurt him like Ah'Len hurt you."
His face and voice lost all hardness and strength, and his mouth fell into a large frown. He didn't have anything really to say to that. "We've talked about this before. That was different. That was *much* different, an' you know that."
"How d' you *know* that, though? How d' you know that somethin' won't happen, an' it'll end up hurtin' him just as much?"
"I *know*," he insisted. "David's not...." He hesitated to say what he was about to say, but then said it anyway. "I was livin' my dream. I had spent twelve years at Starfleet so I could be on that mission. David isn't doin' anythin' he wouldn't wanna give up."
There was a lull in the conversation, and so I went off on a tangent, deciding to speak what was on my mind.
"I hate Ah'Len for what she did," I revealed, my voice full of bitterness.
His eyes grew wide at hearing that, but he came back from the initial shock to respond. "Don't say that. Because of her I have *you*."
"Exactly," I told him, tears choking my voice.
"No," he said forcefully. "I don't hate Ah'Len for what she did, and neither should you. Don't be mad at her. All she did was help create a life. You should hate me; I helped take hers away. Along with the lives of thirty-five other people."
I stared hard into his sad eyes, eyes that wouldn't look up from a fixed spot on the table, but I said nothing.
"So don't *ever* say you wish you were never born. You were the best thing that ever happened t' me." He looked up finally, and I watched as silent tears slipped down his cheeks.
"Dad..." I said quietly, then reached over and hugged him. "I'm sorry.... I didn't mean t'. say anythin'.." I couldn't really find the right apology.
He managed a smile. "It's fine. Sometimes it's just hard... t' feel okay about somethin' like this." He bit at the side of his bottom lip. "Ya think you can go back t' David now? I really think he might want'cha t' be around. I know *I* would."
I gave him a half-smile, then nodded.
As we went back up to my room, I thought about everything that had happened between me and my father, at times glancing up at him. He seemed different, not like he had been weeks ago- not like the man I knew to be my father. He had become much more confident, more happy, as though a part of him had been renewed. Being around his friends really made him so much happier, and for that I was happy too.
When we arrived back at the room, David came over to me and helped me back to my bed; I was still considerably weak.
Almost right away, Dr. Phlox gestured Dad over, who looked a little confused, and asked, "Is K'Ela alright?" wondering why Phlox had called him over.
"Yes, yes," Phlox told him, almost annoyed, which surprised me a little. "Just come."
Dad blinked a few times, not sure what to think, but went with him anyway.
It didn't take me too long to discover that all of my visitors had gone with him, into, presumably, another room.
"What's goin' on?" I asked.
David swallowed with much difficulty. I could tell he was nervous- I saw the beads of sweat on his face, and I could almost hear his heart pounding relentlessly in his chest.
"David?"
He finally sat down on the bed across from me, and began. "Uh... listen, K'Ela... I don't want you to think I'm doing this just because we might...." His voice trailed off, but I at least got the general message. "I wanted to do this *weeks* ago, the day you would come back from your dad's." He laughed a little. "Well, that didn't exactly happen. But I wanna do this now, baby or no baby."
He struggled to adjust himself on the bed until he at last had himself on his knees. He had attempted a different position, but had failed, and so settled for that one. He had to sit on his feet to keep at my eye level, but settled for that as well.
"K'Ela..." he began, looking into my eyes, "I... I always knew you were special. And without you, I don't think I'd be the same person I am now. When I'm with you... nothing else seems to matter. When we're together... I feel complete. You have always been my friend, and over the years I've known you, you've come to be so much more than that to me. And I hope now... that you'll be even more to me... by being my wife."
As he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, square black box, it finally felt real, and the tears welled up in my eyes.
He opened it, and still looking into my eyes asked, "K'Ela... will you marry me?"
I allowed my grin to widen until my face hurt. "Yes," I said, overjoyed at his proposal.
He slipped the ring on my finger, and then kissed me, holding me close.
"I love you," he told me.
"I love you too."
I had never meant anything more in my life.
All of a sudden, what my dad said made perfect sense. If he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and if I wanted to spend the rest of *my* life with *him*, then having a baby together would just be another part of that.
I heard a door close and turned to see Phlox peeking around the curtain, the largest, creepiest grin I've ever seen stretched across his face. The grin returned to just a smile as he announced with a familiar happy lilt in his voice, "She said yes!"
Just then, everyone else came around the curtain as well, smiling and congratulating us.
Dad looked the happiest of all, though it was a reserved happiness that I knew well. He came over and hugged me tight until I wasn't sure if I would be able to breathe, and then stood and turned to David. I could tell he wasn't sure whether or not to hug *him* as well, but he did- though not as tightly as he had hugged me.
"You knew me ever since I was a kid, so I hope you're not planning on giving me a speech about not hurting her... one that involves you coming after me," David joked after my father let him go.
"I know you'd *never* hurt 'er," Dad said, completely straight-faced and serious, but his voice still light. "You love 'er too much."
I turned and looked into David's eyes. They sparkled with joy, with happiness, and a love you rarely see any place but movies. Only, this was real.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rei'Ahn, uncertain whether or not to come closer, but still determined to do her job as she had promised to do.
"I'm very sorry to interrupt..." she told us, coming in through the parting crowd toward David.
I could feel him tense up, unsure of how to react as Rei'Ahn raised the scanner over him once again. She nodded slowly in acknowledgement, pursing her lips as she eyed the scanner, then David. Then Dr. Phlox came over and stood behind her, briefly read the results, almost exactly copying her motions.
"Shall *I* announce the results, or *you*?" he asked her, causing my mind to scream out //Now is *NOT* the time to be polite!!!//
She gestured to him, indicating he should be the one, and stepped back to allow him the floor, so to speak.
"David..." he began, accenting his name oddly, "you *are* expecting."
***************
I was a little teeny bit mean leaving the answer until the end, huh? ^ - ^
Oh well! It just worked out that way.. (*cough* Because I purposely
*did* it that way..)
So now you can review.. Go on. You know you want to.