Star Date 12310.24- 06:13 Hours- Family Quarters UTC-2053

Life had begun its new normal. The three of them, four counting Ember, had their routines. While Jacob was doing his morning Physical Training, Brielle would spend time with Christine before heading to school. Then two afternoons a week, Jacob would take her to dance class, and then the two would make dinner for Christine.

This morning Christine was coming off one of her full days off. She was shifting to the afternoon shift for the next couple of weeks. She was going to miss putting Brielle to bed, so she wanted to spend as much time as possible with the family. Jacob had decided to skip his morning workout to make the morning special.

Stretching, Jacob came out of his bedroom, still in his pajama bottoms. He was still limping on his cane when he didn't have his brace on, but Jacob was beginning to get around the flat much better than he had been. When people asked Jacob how he managed to heal more in the past month than in the past year, Jacob could only say he was "getting good physiotherapy" chasing Brielle around the station. But, of course, he had to admit that having Christine with him nearly every night allowed him to sleep better and have a far better mood the next day.

As quietly as he could, he came up behind Christine. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck and behind her ear. "I wondered why the bed got so cold." He placed a kiss on the nape of her neck.

"I thought I would surprise you and the little princess with some breakfast before you both went off to school." She turned and faced him, smiling coyly.

"That isn't the breakfast I needed this morning." He flirted, tightening his arms around her waist.

"Oh really?" Christine gave him a wry look and licked her lips.

"Yes?" He raised his right hand so that his fingers intermingled with the soft locks on her head and leaned in to kiss her. Christine hungrily reciprocated, breakfast preparation forgotten. Their explorations progressed well when they heard an "Eww…" from behind them.

Jacob and Christine both froze and carefully stepped away from each other.

"Morning, Brielle," Christine called, a little too cheery.

"Yes, good morning Breezer." Jacob called to Brielle, then looked to Christine with an 'I'm sorry look.' "If you will excuse me, ladies, a very frigid water shower is calling me." Jacob quickly walked toward the shower in their room with a wry smile.

Once he was gone, Brielle innocently asked a question. "What were you and Jacob doing?"

Christine cleared her throat, "Making pancakes." She tried not to blush.

"That is not how Ms. Lynn and I made pancakes," Brielle said innocently.

"Yes, well," Christine cleared her throat and tried to keep the heat in her face from rising. Christine sat a stack of pancakes before Brielle. "That is just a different way than grown-ups do sometimes."

"Oh, ok." Brielle shrugged and began eating her pancakes.

"What are you doing at school today, Sweetie?" Christine asked as she cleaned up the kitchen mess.

Brielle shrugged, "Today is specials day. Our teacher is taking us to the holodeck for sports, art, and music." Brielle continued to cram bites of pancakes between her slurps of milk.

"Sounds like fun." Christine got herself and Jacob mugs of coffee from the replicator. She placed Jacob's at his spot at the table. She leaned against the counter, watching Brielle eat and trying not to think about what she would be doing if Brielle had not interrupted them.

A couple of minutes later, Jacob came out of his room, dressed in his uniform, special leg brace, and cane. He kissed Christine's cheek, no longer limping as much as he was before. Then kissed Brielle on the head and picked up his coffee. "Shower is all yours, love." He winked a Christine, who just blushed and rolled her eyes.

"I've got the afternoon shift, so I might take you up on that." She smirked. Then looked over to Brielle. "That means you, little miss, are going to ballet after school, then spending the evening being Jacob and Ember's little helper."

"Aww, I wanted to be with you and Jacob," Brielle whined.

"If you are good, I may take you to see Christine after ballet class. How does that sound?" Jacob tried to cheer the little girl up.

Brielle asked Christine, "Do I have to have a leg treatment while I am there?"

"Nope." Christine mussed her hair, "This is just a stop by and says hi. That is unless you WANT a treatment?" Christine teased."

"No, thank you." Brielle wrinkled her nose up at her.

"That said, now off to school. Both of you." Christine went over and gave Brielle a hug and kiss, then turned to Jacob and kissed him.

Jacob leaned his forehead into hers and whispered, "No 'making pancakes' without me."

"Jacob!" Christine laughed in indignation.

"Come on, Breezer, we can't be late," Jacob laughed and nudged Brielle toward the door.

"Bye, Chrissy." Brielle waved as she walked out the door.

"Bye, Love." Jacob smiled at Christine one last time before stepping out the door.

17:38 Hours- Starbase 71- Sickbay

"PO Morgan can go back to duty tomorrow. The laceration was deep, but it didn't do any significant damage. I still say he was lying about falling into the table, but so be it." Christine handed the completed medical report to Lt. Pearcey at the nurse's desk. "Who's our next contestant?"

"Mental health case. The patient has been experiencing bouts of depression throughout the day but recently had a spike in blood pressure due to anxiety. The Chief resident wants you to consult on it and give a report. But, I will warn you, he is an older man." Pursing her lips, Christine took the pad and headed toward the cordoned-off area. She pulled back the curtain to find her least likely patient.

"Hi, beautiful." Jacob smiled at her.

"Chrissy!" Brielle poked her head around the examination table.

Christine clutched her pad to her chest, " And just what are you doing here?"

"Pearcy messaged me earlier saying you could use a pick me up. So therefore, Brielle and I come bearing a cup of your favorite coffee, as well as hugs and kisses." Jacob came over and gave her a cup of coffee and a kiss.

"Then I will have to thank them." Christine took the coffee and kiss from Jacob. "I am glad they recognized I needed my daily dose of cuddles." She hugged Brielle as well. "Breezer, why don't you go to the nurses' station. If you turn on your charms, one of them might share a cookie with you." With a shriek of glee, Brielle left for the nurses' station.

Christine turned her attention to the slightly pale Jacob, "How are you holding up?"

"As long as no one comes near me with a hypospray, I'll do ok." Jacob scratched Ember's ears.

"Ask me if I believe you." Christine raised an eyebrow at him. He blushed.

"Regardless," He gave her a knowing look, "I wanted to see you. I had a rough day and needed to see you. Even if it meant entering the evils of sickbay." He chuckled.

"Was it worth it?" Christine blushed.

"Always," he kissed her, then sighed, "but I can't be selfish keeping you away from your patients."

"You get me 16 hours of the day; they only need me 8 hours," Christine reassured him.

"I also wanted to tell you that you've had two calls from Jack and Grace." Jacob saw Christine's face blanch, "They are fine. It isn't urgent, but I have a hunch that the family has been talking."

"Why do you say that?"

"The last message had the subject of "Who is this 'old man' mom says you are dating?'" Jacob rolled his eyes.

"We probably do need to talk to them at some point." Christine sighed, then smiled at him, "Thank you for stopping by; at least the coffee will help." She teased.

"Is that all that helped?" He flirted right back.

"Maybe." She smirked, "Think you can leave another of your shirts out for me tonight?"

"I'll do my best." He returned her smirk. "Any special requests?"

"Surprise me." She leaned over and gave him a lingering kiss before slipping back into the hallway to see how many sweets her coworkers had fed Brielle.

Next to him, Ember whined and looked up at him. "Hey, if I can wait for my treat, so can you."