Chapter 12 - Epilogue

Adalie Archer slipped quietly from her bed, careful not to disturb her little brother and sister. She tiptoed out into the hallway, stopping at the large staircase that curved down to the living room. She had yet to master which stairs creaked at her father's boyhood home so she took each one slowly, carefully putting one foot down to test before gingerly taking the step. She figured she was probably being foolish. There was no way her parents would hear her, especially with all the noise the two of them were currently making.

She was surprised that it hadn't woken her siblings but then again they both took after her father and could sleep through anything. Adalie was different. She had heard the unmistakable tones of her parents arguing and decided that she needed to figure out what was going on. At first she had been certain that they were arguing about her. Well, not just her; her siblings too. Earlier that day, Frankie had tried to convince Ben that since he was born on a starship with artificial gravity, planetary gravity wouldn't affect him as much. She had convinced him to climb up on the old barn at their grandmother's home in Upstate New York and jump off, promising that he would be able to float down. Adalie, to her credit, did nothing to discourage her brother of this idea and even provided him with a helmet just in case. Even when Ben crashed resoundingly into a pile of leaves he still climbed back up to try again because Frankie had said he had just jumped wrong. It was only when their mother came outside upon hearing the crash and told him to get down immediately that both girls started laughing hysterically. Their mother, after making sure her youngest hadn't broken anything, began laughing too.

That hadn't been what Adalie expected. Typically, her father was the softy, always finding a creative way to get out of punishing anyone for anything until her mother found out. But today, her mother had simply told Ben never to trust a thing that came out of Frankie's mouth and ruffled his hair. Adalie watched in confusion as her mother got a faint look in her eye that she had seen countless times before. When she asked, her mother had just smiled and said that Ben reminded her of their father. Addie had asked what that meant and her mother had said that he was "too sweet for his own good." She hadn't bothered trying to figure out what that meant.

But as she crept down the stairs it was clear that her parents weren't talking about their latest adventures at her little brother's expense. She sat down on a step and leaned her head against the railing to look out into the living room. Her parents sat on the couch talking. Her father looked concerned; he kept running his hand through his hair and her mother looked exhausted. Her head was resting on the back of the couch and she held one hand over her eyes.

"Erika…"

"…No listen to me," her mother began as she turned to face her husband.

"Erika…"

"Jon, just listen."

"I can't just leave my job."

"Yes, you can," her mother sighed.

"No one has ever done this before."

"Quit their job as the most powerful person in the fleet to accept a diplomatic post?"

She saw a small smile on her father's face. "Well, when you put it that way."

"This is what you wanted, Jon. We both knew you were unhappy. The treaty is signed, a new interplanetary government is forming, and you've been given another chance to be a part of it. Why aren't you jumping at this?" her mother asked cautiously.

"I don't know," he sighed. "Things are just happening too fast. It's only been a few weeks since it all happened. I didn't expect it to be like this…" he paused, glancing around the room and Adalie was certain she had been caught. But her father's gaze was distracted and he didn't even seem to be aware of anything else besides her mother.

"And what are you going to do on Andoria?" he finally asked. "What about your career?"

"I'm sure Starfleet will need some high-ranking officers in that sector."

"You aren't worried about it." It wasn't a question, rather an observation, Adalie noted as her father turned to face her mother.

"Not really no," her mother shrugged.

"What do you know that I don't know?"

"What?"

"Erika, what do you know that I don't know?"

Her mother sighed. "Jon, the total tonnage of what I know that you don't know could stop Enterprise in its tracks."

Her father chuckled. "I walked into that one."

"Yes you did."

"Erika…" he pressed.

"I received an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"An offer to oversee the Joint Taskforce."

Her father stared back at her mother. "They want you to be the head of the new Joint Starfleet-Andorian supply and patrol force?"

"Until the integration is complete. I got the call about two weeks ago."

"Two weeks ago?"

"You were in the middle of accomplishing the most important feat of your career. I knew this would derail you so I chose not to say anything."

"Until now," her father prompted.

"Until now." She could tell her mother was regretting even bringing up the subject now.

"How did they…?"

"Everyone could read the writing on the wall, Jon. They knew you had your eyes on something more. The council guessed it would be Andoria and they guessed right."

Her father looked fairly livid. "Do you mean a member of my organization was given another job in my organization without me even knowing?"

"Your deputies have been calling the shots for a long time."

"Okay, so there was a coup."

"There wasn't a coup, you moron."

"The President reassigned my wife!"

"With any luck, Jon, you'll be president someday and can do the same for him." Her mother placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Cut the man some slack. His government just got superseded by the largest planetary alliance in the history of the universe."

"Still," her father grumbled.

"You want to know what happened? Fine. He wanted to appoint you as his ambassador to Andoria. He's wanted to do that for a long time. But he knew you'd never do it without your wife, the stubborn idiot you are. So they offered me a job."

Her father was silent for a moment. "Who will take your old job?" he finally asked.

"Do you care?"

"Not really." He took one of her hands in his. "Erika, this isn't… I mean, I don't want this to be 'Jon gets a job so we have to give Erika one too.' My career has already come at the expense of yours."

"No, it hasn't. Listen, if you don't want to take this offer that is fine. Don't use me as an excuse. I'll take this job whether you take yours or not." Her father seemed to nod in agreement. "Now, can we get back to talking about you?" She gave him a small smile. "Do you want it?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I think the better question is do I want to leave Starfleet."

"And?"

"I think I do. I think I've done all that I can do here. And Andoria…"

"Aside from being freezing cold…"

"Aside from that," he laughed and Adalie gave an involuntary shiver, "I feel like I was made for this, Rike."

"I know."

They sat together on the couch in silence, no doubt remembering all the stories about the Andorians that Adalie had been told over and over and over again. Neither of her parents believed in making up stories to help their children fall asleep. Instead they just taught their children about their old missions. And a lot of her father's missions involved Andoria.

Adalie turned as she heard a soft creak on the step above her. Frankie was standing there in her pajamas, her face scrunched in concentration as she tried not to make a sound. Adalie pressed a finger to her lips and pointed to the step below, indicating for Frankie to hop down one. She held out her hand for her sister who gingerly skipped the noisy stair and landed with a soft thump. Both girls turned down to the living room, certain that their parents would have noticed, but they both seemed lost in thought. Frankie sighed in relief as she sat down next to Adalie and leaned her head against her sister's shoulder.

Finally, their parents spoke again. "What about the kids?" her father asked.

"There is an embassy school attached to one of the consular departments. I don't think they've ever had an ambassador with a family before. But the support staff all have kids."

Their father seemed to think this over as a picture of what they were talking about formed in Adalie's mind.

"How long is your term?" her mother asked.

"A little less than four years."

"Four years!" she gasped.

"Can we handle four years off world?" her father sighed. "Four years off world with three kids and two dogs?"

"We don't have to decide anything tonight."

"I know." Frankie pointed as their father reached over to pick up a picture on a nearby table. It was of Adalie and her siblings. "Will they be mad at us?"

"Mad?" her mother asked confused.

"About leaving everyone they know?"

"We'll be with them, they'll be okay."

And somehow Adalie knew it would. She wasn't scared about moving away from home or about living on a different planet. Sitting next to her on the stairs, Frankie looked positively excited. There was one more member of their family that might not be as readily willing to accept the change. Ben poked his head out of his bedroom and toddled down the hall. Frankie shushed him loudly before he could make a sound to give them away.

"Did you hear that?" Adalie heard her mother whisper to her father.

"Can we just pretend we didn't and explain all this to them in the morning?" They had been caught, Adalie realized with a groan.

"I don't think so." Her mother turned around to look up at the three children sitting on the stairs. "I think they heard everything."

Her father shook his head with a smile. "Okay, come on, guys. On the couch, Mom and I have something we want to talk to you three about."

"Are we moving to Andoria?" Adalie asked as she stood up.

Her mother looked at her father expectantly.

"Yes," her father answered, a small smile on his face. "I'm going to be the new ambassador."

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A/N: Thank you guys so much for coming along on this journey with me. I'm not sure if there is going to be a part 5 yet so we will just have to wait and see. If you have any suggestions for stories you would like to see, let me know! – Amelia.