Chapter 12: Cairns = Home
A magnificent sunset was seen from the back of the Hammersley. Tomorrow was going to be a beautiful day for sure but to the three women sitting at the back, and enjoying it, it could rain or be the most horrendous day because after this day they were allowed to go home!
Bird stared into the distance and simply smiled. She had never thought she would like being at sea this much. At least not for long periods of time, but in the past twelve weeks she had gained a lot of knowledge. Her first year in the navy as a Seaman was almost over and with all the extra training she had had while being in quarantine she was more than ready to apply for a promotion to Able Seaman. She was even thinking about a future on a frigate.
Going home also meant she would have to say goodbye to Regina. They had formed a friendship and had spent a lot of time together talking or playing games.
"My mother told me she's going to drag my whole family up here to welcome me home," Bird announced a bit embarrassed.
"That's great," Kate said enthusiastically. She looked at the brown haired sailor and smiled. "Enjoy the moment. It's wonderful and very special."
Regina nodded as if she knew what they were talking about. "I've seen it on TV a few times. I mean, I've seen those big ships return home," she explained.
"Frigates," Bird corrected her. "Weren't you on a frigate Kate?" she asked.
Kate nodded forlornly. She wasn't really thinking about frigates or welcome home parties. Of course she was glad to be going home but it made her realise she was going to be on her own after having so many people around her for weeks.
"Who's going to be there for you?" Bird suddenly asked.
Kate shrugged.
"At least the father of your little one," Regina said happily.
Kate's jaw almost dropped to the floor and she looked at Regina in disbelief. "I know I haven't told you much about my private life but I thought you would have known Jim was killed," Kate snapped.
"I'm sorry," Regina whimpered an apology.
"Jim was killed in the bombing almost five months ago. You know, when Swain was killed as well," Bird explained.
Regina wanted to hide behind her hands in shame. Bird had told her a lot about Swain and how he had died. She also knew he hadn't been the only one, but in all those weeks she had never made the connection to the bombing and Kate's grief. She wanted to comfort Kate, but she stepped away and leaned against the metal bars to look at the sea.
"I don't want to talk about it," Kate said sternly before either of the girls could say anything else. Actually she was about to cry but that was the last thing she wanted to do in front of them.
"Is there someone else coming for you?" Bird tried to cheer up Kate.
Kate shrugged. Just like all the previous times she had returned home she would be the only one not having anyone there to greet her. It wouldn't be any different although this time she really wished Jim could have been there. It made her sad. For the first time in her life she hated being alone.
"Who's coming for you?" Bird asked Regina when Kate didn't answer.
"No one," was her short reply. She almost snapped at Bird.
Kate forgot about her own sorrow and looked at Regina. Surely someone would come for her.
"You didn't contact your family that you're still alive?" Kate asked amazed at the heartless attitude of the woman.
"Why would I? They kicked me out years ago. I've been on my own for a long time," she answered.
Bird couldn't fathom how a family could be so hard. Regina had almost died out at sea and had been away for a long time. Her family would probably love to see her again.
"You don't have a boyfriend who can come?" Bird tried.
"I said no one is coming. What's so hard to understand about that?" Regina yelled.
The nice, relaxed feeling had disappeared completely. Regina turned her back to the two women, Kate tried to hide her own grief while she comforted Bird. Kate gave Regina a foul look. "She means well," she defended Bird. She knew why there wasn't going to be someone waiting for Regina. At least she thought she knew but Bird had never been informed about the suspicions which were made.
"How could Bird know you don't have anyone waiting for you? She doesn't know you ran away and did that almost five years ago," Kate said trying to get a reaction from Regina.
"You don't know anything," Regina stated.
"Right and you don't have to tell us if you don't want to but don't bite our heads off when we're trying to be polite," Kate said coolly.
Regina got up and walked a bit away from the two sailors before she turned around. "Just leave me alone," she yelled before she ran back inside.
Bird was flabbergasted by what had just happened. She thought Regina and she were friends and this was not something she had thought would happen.
"What did we do?" she asked Kate.
"Nothing. I guess she's scared of what's going to happen. Earlier today the CO and I told her she's going to be met by people from customs. She doesn't have any legal document to claim she's who she says she is so they have a few questions for her to answer," Kate explained.
Bird nodded and decided to go inside as well but then she stopped, turned around and smilingly said as if nothing had happened: "Oh Kate, don't forget the meeting in the junior sailors' mess later tonight."
Kate rolled her eyes and sighed. Something was going on. She knew it. After today she would take on a desk job at Navcom until a few weeks before the birth. Hopefully she could return after the baby was born but that was still far away and not something she had really thought about yet. Her colleagues of the Hammersley had been secretive and had been busy planning something. Kate was anxious about what to expect. Were they going to say goodbye for good or simply wishing her well?
That night, Kate reluctantly dragged herself to the mess. Whatever was in store for her she wasn't looking forward to it. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the attention but more the implication it brought with it.
If she was true to herself Kate didn't want to give up her job as XO. She was looking forward to meeting her child but at the same time it frightened her to even think of the weeks, months, until the birth and then she would be a single mum. She couldn't easily return to a posting at sea when there was no one to take care of the baby.
"She's coming. Ssshh," someone whispered. The few sounds she had heard before died away but when she entered the room a loud noise erupted. Kate was amazed by the number of people inside, giving her a warm farewell.
"Surprise," a few sailors still yelled while the others already looked at her with big grins on their faces.
"We all know this is not going to be a goodbye forever. You'll come back after you popped out…" Charge said, gaining a punch from Dutchy. "After you gave birth to Hammersley's youngest sailor," he corrected himself. "That's why we made this for you."
Everybody laughed. In the chaos someone handed Charge a present which he in return handed Kate.
"In the past few weeks all of us have helped create this," Charge said, quickly looking at the present. "If you don't ask us where it came from we won't tell you any lies. All we can hope for is that it's going to fit," he added.
Kate looked at the present in her hands before she looked at the group of people. Everyone she had worked with and had meant something to her in the past years was there. Whatever was in this little present was going to mean a lot to her, without any doubt.
"You have to open it X," 2Dads urged her.
Kate nodded and started to peel off the scotch tape.
"Any slower X and the baby is going to be born," Charge teased her.
Kate smiled but had a mixture of feelings flowing through her body. Everybody was looking at her which made it a bit uncomfortable. With trembling hands she continued to unwrap the present until she had a baby size DPNU in her hands. She couldn't do anything else but laugh and admire it.
"We don't know what the baby's surname will be so we made two name tags," 2Dads explained.
Kate looked at the little uniform and saw the name 'McGregor' stuck on it and a loose one with the name 'Roth' next to it.
Kate was dumbfounded. Of all the things she had thought that were going to happen this was the last thing she expected. She looked around the group of people and, without any words, thanked each and every one of them.
"I… uhm… I…" she stuttered. Kate didn't know what to say so she looked at the little uniform. It was hard to imagine her baby would be wearing that in a few months' time. Again she tried to say something but her mouth was really dry so she turned around to get herself some water.
"I'll get it for you," 2Dads offered but Kate stopped him.
"I'm pregnant…"
"Not an invalid," everybody said in unison before they all started to laugh.
"I've said that before, haven't I?" Kate joked, realising she must have said that sentence a few too many times when everybody could recite it along with her. Well, it was the truth. She didn't want to be treated any differently so she moved towards the tap to get some water but then saw a piece of paper stuck on the back of the door.
Forgetting about the water Kate took a closer look at the paper. With a line in the middle it was divided into two segments. On the left top side was the word 'GIRLS' written and on the right side 'BOYS'. The paper was filled with names, some of them were crossed out, some were encircled and others had stripes underneath them.
"What is this?" Kate asked a very silent group of sailors. Only 2Dads was smirking.
"We wanted to help you come up with a name for your baby, ma'am," he answered smugly.
Kate looked at the door and read some of the names. "Hope, Roz, Elizabeth, Annabel, Mary, Maggie, Thor, James, Michael, Christopher, Andrew, Severus…" Kate said disgusted. "Harry, Ron, Albus! I do hope some of you were simply smitten by the latest Harry Potter movie and aren't serious."
A few sailors started to laugh but no one dared to look at her. "How much money has been spend on my little one already?" Kate suddenly asked, sounding very seriously.
It was very silent as everyone looked at each other instead of answering the question. Kate decided to torture them a little longer, even though she was greatly amused by this situation. 2Dads had been the only one to say something and he was the betting guy on the ship. Kate looked at him with piercing eyes, demanding an answer.
"I don't know ma'am," he answered slowly. "I don't own the pot," he added while he looked in Mike's direction.
Kate shook her head. He was the last person she would suspect and when he noticed she was looking at him he started to laugh and shook his head as well.
"I don't know anything either," he said as innocently as he could. "Honestly," he added, but Kate saw that Mike had at least known about this.
As the senior officers they had let a lot of little things 'happen' but after tomorrow the old, strict, rules would be in place again. Tomorrow everything would be normal again. Normal. After tomorrow nothing would be normal again.
Realising this Kate sighed and looked around for a place to sit down. The jolly happy mood had disappeared with the thought of tomorrow.
"What's wrong?" Mike tried, but all Kate could do was shrug.
He stood up to get her the glass of water she had intended to get herself. His spot was quickly filled by Dutchy who put his hand on her shoulder. "I hope we didn't offend you," he said, pointing at the list with names.
Kate shrugged again. "That's not it," she whispered. "I hadn't even thought about names yet."
"You can have the list. Or copy the names you like," Dutchy suggested.
"Thank you all for the lovely present and I might even copy some of the names and start my own list but my watch starts in a few minutes," Kate said gloomy.
She left the mess and walked passed her cabin to drop the uniform there. All her bags were packed already. The cabin looked cold and unwelcome but the worst thing was that after today she didn't even have her friends and colleagues around to keep her company. She would be on her own.
The night watch was uneventful and when the morning came they saw the first glimpses of Cairns' harbour. A few more miles and they were home. Everyone on board was getting ready to greet the people who had come to meet them. Everyone, except Kate.
She would have to be present for the official part but she would rather have stayed inside while all the others were met by family members.
As expected the dock was filled with people who came to welcome home the sailors. They had to wait for the official dismissal, but after waiting for weeks no one minded those few extra minutes.
In her loudest voice Kate dismissed the sailors and when she turned she saw them, Jim's parents. She had been wrong. For the first time in her life there were people waiting for her return. She smiled as much as she could. They probably didn't even know it but by simply showing up they brightened up Kate's mood. She was home at last!