I thought Chloe was a little overdue for some good old girl talk.
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It had finally happened, after almost a month of hard work Destiny's scientists had repaired the ship; or at least Destiny was as fixed as it was going to get. That meant that everyone on board had finally gotten some time to themselves, to relax.
TJ and Camile slowly strolled down Destiny's long hallways towards the observation deck chatting about unimportant things when young Ezra suddenly flew around the corner and slammed into Camile almost knocking her to the floor, in fact it would have if the blonde medic hadn't caught her in time. He was out of breath and giggling, almost instantly Cressida came charging after.
"I'm sorry." Ezra mumbled.
"That's okay." Said Camile.
"Are you two alright?" Asked TJ with a gentle, motherly smile. "What's with all the running?"
"Daddy's it!" Cress beamed before she and her little brother ran off down the hall and around the next corner.
Sure enough the two women only had to wait a moment for Rush to turn the corner and run past them, which actually surprised Camile and TJ, he looked... happy. Years younger. Neither of them were going to say anything about it though, a cheerful Nicholas Rush was an unusual thing.
"Well, that was different."
"It's good to see Ezra settling in though. You were right, Camile, Cress is a good big sister."
"She is." They carried on down the black walled hallway, footfalls sounding almost rhythmical. "I was worried that Cressida wouldn't view him as a sibling at first, what with how they were created."
Camile fell silent as she and Tamara finally turned into the observation deck to find Chloe sat cross-legged on the cool floor. The colorful FTL glow dancing across her face with a supernatural beauty.
"Hey Chloe," The chestnut haired mother looked up with a soft smile. "I heard the scientists are finally finished."
"Yeah, it's about time, right?" Camile and TJ sat down beside her. "Brody is working on a new batch from his still, Volker is doing whatever Volker does when he's not working and Doctor Park is with Greer, no prize for guessing what they're doing." Chloe chuckled.
"We just saw Rush and the children, they looked like they were playing tag." Camile couldn't help thinking how good it was for there to be some laughter on board Destiny again.
Chloe grinned. "Yeah, Nicky promised Cress and Ezra that if they got auxiliary power stable by lunch he'd play tag with them and Eli through the ship. I think Varro was going to join in too, he's quite the kid when he gets going."
"You're not playing with them?" TJ seemed surprised, normally Chloe took every opportunity to be with her kids.
"I have a headache." Chloe rubbed at her temples. "I'll play later... they'll force me." She chuckled.
"I can get you something for your head if you want?" That 'medic tone' as Cress liked to call it suddenly appeared.
"Nah, I'm alright. It'll go away soon enough, just spent too long staring at screens." She took a breath. "Nicky told me to take a break but I didn't listen."
"Nicky?" Camile questioned with a gleam in her dark eyes.
Camile probably knew Rush better than anyone else on the ship, she knew he hated himself for not being able to save Gloria even though there had been nothing he could have done. She knew he embedded himself in his work because science made sense while society didn't. Camile also knew that Chloe and those children were the best thing to have ever happened to Nicholas Rush.
"I guess I've given him a nickname." TJ and Chloe chuckled.
"I like it, makes him seem like a little puppy dog." The medic straightened her high ponytail. "And I never thought I'd say that about Rush."
"He's not that bad." Chloe defended a little too quickly, she'd seen the other side of Nicholas.
"You two seem to be... getting on well." Camile smirked. "You've made him happy, you're good for him. He's spending less time alone in his head now, he's stopped snapping at the crew as much as well."
"He makes me happy too." Chloe gushed without really meaning to. "Nicky is funny when he wants to be, kind too. He's a wonderful father, I mean let's face it, most men would have freaked out and headed for the proverbial hills when told they have two genetically engineered children. I almost did for a while." She sighed, Chloe wasn't proud of that particular part of her life, even if it had only been a few hours long. "But, Nicky is great with them. You should see him when he puts them to bed, we take it in turns to tell them stories, his are their favourite because apparently he does the voices properly." Camile smirked at that.
"Chloe," Marvelled TJ. "you sound like a wife talking about her husband-"
"No!" The young beauty exclaimed. "We're nowhere near that yet, nowhere near." She took a breath. "Having Ezra is still sinking in."
"Would you though? Want to marry Nick?" Camile asked curiously.
Chloe paused for a little longer than needed, as though having some huge internal debate.
"It's a nice idea but, he's already been married, do you really think he'd want to be again?" Chloe asked gingerly, blue eyes locked on the floor with almost child-like avoidance. "And anyway, like I said, it's a long way off. I haven't even told my Mom that she has a grandson yet. If I spring hey, I'm marrying Nicholas Rush on her she'll likely kill me and whoever I've swapped with."
"How did she react to you and Rush?" TJ questioned softly. "To Cress too?"
"Rather confused when it came to Cressida, I think she thought she was dreaming. Rush though, she took that surprisingly well, it might have just been shock now that I think about it."
"To be honest I'm not surprised you ended up with Rush. He's the father of your children and you've always been the closest to him."
"Have I? Are you sure, Camile?"
"Yes, you have. Even before we went into hyper-sleep Rush had a great deal of respect and admiration for you, Chloe. To be honest I think he had a little bit of an infatuation with you. You're young and beautiful, and then he got to spend time with you teaching you Ancient and to understand the knowledge you gained from the Nakai."
"So you're saying Rush had a crush on me? Really? He always seemed rather indifferent until Cress."
"That's just an act of his."
"You're together now, and he's good to you."
"Yes he is." Chloe said with a smirk in a sultry tone.
"Chloe!" TJ cackled with mock shock and outrage.
"What?" It had been a very long time since Chloe had engaged in anything even remotely resembling 'girl talk', she'd missed it.
Camile stood up, clearly not wanting to talk about Rush in anything even remotely sexual.
"On that note, I think I'll leave you too it. I want to check in with Colonel Young anyway, you know how he is." With a simple good-bye Camile left the observation deck.
TJ just smiled and shuffled closer to the young mother.
"Come on then, if we're going to talk like teenagers you have to tell me, is he any good?" Tamara seemed to have turned into a pile of smirks.
"Are we really having this conversation?"
"You started it. Now stop avoiding the question."
"Fine, and yes, he's very, very good. Attentive, thoughtful... surprisingly strong." Chloe smiled to herself.
"Well, aren't you a lucky girlfriend. Maybe that's not the right word, boyfriend doesn't really fit when it comes to Rush." TJ paused for a moment. "Partner maybe."
"That sounds better, boyfriend seems more like a teenager. Oh God-" A look of realisation dawned on Chloe's face.
"What?"
"In a few years I'm going to have two teenagers to take care of."
"Ah, good luck."
Meanwhile Eli – who stood just outside of observation deck where no one could see him – had heard the whole thing. He'd managed to dodge Camile as she left but the knowledge that Chloe actually enjoyed the idea of marrying Rush, well, he shouldn't have really been overly surprised, they were together after all and marriage was a logical next step.
Cressida had asked him to check on her Mother for her and see if her headache had died down enough for her to come and play with them, but after overhearing what he had it was probably best to leave Chloe with TJ for a while.
Slowly he turned down the hallway and went back to the game, he'd last seen Cress and the others playing near the mess hall. Eli was in a bit of a daze as he walked back only coming back to himself when Cressida suddenly grabbed his hand and tugged him off towards the infirmary.
"What are we doing?" Asked Eli while his mind muttered about how surprisingly strong she was.
"We're playing hide-and-go-seek, Varro wanted something he stood a chance at. Ezra is in the Control Interface Room and Daddy is coming this way."
Eli smiled down at Cress as she pulled him down behind one of the far beds beside the wall where they couldn't be seen. He'd not played silly games like hide-and-go-seek since he was about eight and it wasn't until he'd been hidden there with Cressida for a good five minutes that Eli realised he'd missed it.
"What's wrong, Eli?" Asked Cress in that beautiful voice of hers. She seemed to have a sixth sense about her when it came to Eli, probably why they'd become so close so quickly.
"Just something Chloe said."
"Is Mommy alright?" She whispered, a flash of concern crossing her delicate features.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, she's fine." He paused. "Hey, if I tell you something do you promise not to tell?" Cressida nodded and muttered an uh-huh. "Chloe may want to marry Rush."
The dark-haired little girl stared at him blankly. "What does 'marry' mean?"
"Em, it's a... a ceremony where two people vow to love and protect each other forever." He explained with a sense of uncertainty, he didn't quite know how to put it into words. "They give one another rings as a symbol of love and they become husband and wife." He finished lamely.
"So anyone can get married?"
"Pretty much, yeah. But it's only for couples like your Mom and Dad, not something for friends."
"That's not a very helpful description." That actually made him chuckle.
"You're parents can probably explain it better than me."
"But you said not to tell them." Cress smiled knowing she was being a smart-ass.
"Then you're gonna have to wait a few years to ask them."
"Fine, now shut up, I hear footsteps."