Crewmen were going about their daily business as Mallory entered engineering, two days after finding out she was pregnant. She was wearing her civilian clothing as she was a bit wary of wanting to go back to work for the time being; morning sickness was still affecting her at all times of the day and night. She wore a long blue skirt and a pale green top with matching sandals. Her hair was loose and hung about her shoulders. Stopping for a moment or two to watch the swirling coloured lights of the reactor she ocused on the reason she had entered, sighed deeply and began looking around. Finally spotting the person she wanted in one corner she moved over. "Commander?"
Trip spun his head round at hearing his rank and smiled gently when he saw that is was Lieutenant Riley who had addressed him. Momentarily he was stunned by her beautiful appearance in the ship's most dangerous room. He coughed to clear his throat and snap him out of the trance as he continued to work. "Hi there. What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to know if you have time to talk?" She asked in a very quiet voice. She was fully aware that practically all the male engineers in the room had their eyes on her. Her cheeks began to glow red with embarrassment, having noticed how Trip had reacted to seeing her, and knowing that she was probably distracting everyone else.
He fully turned to look at her nodding his head gently with a small smile. Progress was being made with getting her to settle in, though those red cheeks told him that she was far from being totally comfortable talking to him. He moved over to another computer screen and checked the time. "Well… if you haven't eaten yet, how about we meet in the mess hall in twenty minutes for lunch?" He cocked his head to one side. "Is that all right with you?"
"That sounds good, sir. Thank you." She nodded in reply and headed for the exit. She paused for a moment or two to watch Commander Tucker working away before she opened the hatch and left, eager to get out of all the men's eyesight and let them concentrate on their work.
Twenty minutes or so later and Trip entered the mess hall. The lunch rush was over so there were only a couple of people eating. Glancing around he could see Mallory was sat at a table with a drink and a plate of food in front of her near a window. Grabbing his own plate and glass from the cabinets he took a seat next to her. "So, what do you want to talk about?" He looked at her and could see she was feeling nervous. The fact she was just slowly toying with the food in front of her told him that. His voice went down into a whisper. "Is it about the baby?"
"In a way, yes." She nodded and looked around watching as the last couple of people left the room. Trip and Mallory were finally alone. She sighed deeply, dropping her fork to the plate for the time being and then folded her hands under her arms to try and hide the shaking. "This isn't easy for me." She looked around again and watched as the door opened and Malcolm walked in. "Oh great! Don't see us, please don't see us!" She looked away, hoping that he wouldn't come over. He grabbed a tray and then began moving over to them.
Malcolm cleared his throat with a little cough and looked between the two of them. "Is this seat taken?" The Armoury officer asked, pointing to the third seat at the round table.
"Err." Trip started and then looked at Mallory. She had just been about to say something to him, so it was really up to her if he could stay.
Malcolm could sense the tension in the air. He'd always found it difficult to talk to women on a personal level, but was finding it a lot more difficult to get the nerve to talk to his new sister, especially as she hadn't wanted to talk to him. He wanted to get to know her, but wasn't quite sure if or when she would let him in. "I'm sorry, I've interrupted something, I'll find another seat." He turned and was about to walk away when Mallory stopped him.
"It's ok… You can join us." She pointed to the empty seat to show that he could sit. This was going to be harder, but maybe, just maybe, it would help get a few things off her mind. "Listen to Captain Archer… he knows best." This was her crew now and if she was going to stay on board then she was going to have to start trying to fit in with the senior staff. Captain Archer had said to talk to both men, so why not talk to them at the same time, that way she wouldn't have to repeat herself.
"If you're sure." He watched as she nodded her head and pointed again to the seat to indicate that he could sit with them. "Thank you." Malcolm nodded and took his seat, noticing that neither of them had really started eating so he waited for the moment too. This was certainly progress; to be given permission to sit at the same table as her. "How are you finding things?" He looked at his new sister, hoping that if he started up the conversation the tension that was hanging in the air would ease.
Slowly she nodded her head. "Not too bad, thank you." She sighed deeply, trying to figure out a way to explain things to both men. "How much has Captain Archer told you about me?"
The brother shook his head. "Very little. He did mention that you're on Enterprise because I'm dead. He didn't tell me how though."
She nodded her head again, looking away from her brother and stared at the plate of food in front of her. She didn't want to think of death anymore not when she had news of life to tell them. Pinching the bridge of her nose she knew that she was just going to have to say it. It would be the easiest way to get rid of the tension she was starting to feel. "Just do it Mallory!" She thought to herself. "Just take a deep breath and tell them now, before it's too late and you change your mind." She looked at her brother and took a deep breath. "I…I… I'm pregnant." She finally stated, stuttering a little as her nerves got the better of her, but at least she had said it, Malcolm now knew. "You're going to be an uncle." She looked away from the stunned stare he was giving her. She was getting used to those now. She glanced at Trip to see that he was just smiling gently. He was glad to see that she was starting to talk to people, especially her brother.
"What? Pregnant?" He was stunned as it took several seconds for him to process the news. "How far?"
"About two months." Trip replied.
Malcolm glanced at him, slightly surprised that Tucker already knew the answer. He turned his attention back to his sister. "I guess congratulations are in order. And who's the father?" He looked between the two of them, wondering who would answer him this time.
A long pause followed that question as Mallory reached into the pocket of her skirt, fishing around till her fingers found what she was looking for. "You'll probably recognise this." She said as she placed the antique ring down on the table in front of Trip, her hand trembling a little as she revealed the jewellery to him and folded her hands in her lap to hide her shaking hands.
He looked at it, picked it up and studied it carefully. "This is my grandmother's ring. How did you…?" Trip paused and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, putting all the pieces together. "I'm the father?" He watched as Mallory nodded her head. Now he finally understood why it was so hard for her to speak to him. In her reality they were involved... Romantically. All the revelation suddenly brought that feeling of guilt back to him; that she was here because of him, pulled from the people she truly loved.
"Well. Not you physically, but biologically you are." She tried to smile but found it difficult, despite being good news it was hard on her as the relationship she had had with her own Trip was gone now. She looked at Trip and instead of seeing a man in shock she saw a man with a grin on his face. The guilty feeling he had was washed away quickly as he thought about the baby and what the future would bring.
"I'm gonna be a father!" He repeated, smiling even more at Mallory. Hearing him and seeing his smile just made everything feel so much better for her. She turned her head to look at Malcolm and he too was smiling. In that moment she knew everything was going to be all right. She could relax now, knowing that she wasn't alone anymore, they were already making her feel welcome and she knew there and then that they would be a big help to the baby. With a gentle smile he handed the now duplicate Tucker heirloom back to Riley, knowing she'd want to keep it. And the family still had one safely back on Earth. Riley took the ring and stared at it for a few seconds before putting it away back into her pocket.
Now that she'd broken the wall of ice between them all she was able and ready to really talk to them, to tell them more about herself and about some of the missions. She even decided to tell them how Malcolm had died, though not in as much detail as she had given Captain Archer. Sharing stories they were able to laugh and enjoy each other's company at long last as they ate lunch together.