"I thought I'd find you here." Geordie greeted as he came into the arboretum. Anya sat with a tablet on her lap while Carina played on her tummy on a blanket on the grass. Anya was dressed down out of uniform her hair down completely resting on her back and held back with a few small clips
"I know that I took Carina away from a planet full of real green life and true sunlight to work among the stars again, but I feel I owe it to her to bring her here regularly so she can learn what it is. She does have centuries of farming in her blood and if she wished to return to that way of living in the future I want her to be ready. Kyle had such challenges when we first arrived home it was almost comical, yet pathetic at the same time." Anya put the tablet down as her friend joined her on the grass.
"I like to come here and think too. I like it because the grass is real and so are the plants and the trees. The holodecks can make it appear like it's all real but it's just computer generated" Geordie agreed and picked up one of Carina's toys and looked at it.
"I'm having a hard time concentrating today." Anya whispered and Geordie looked over at his friend. "Carina is six months today. "
"That means that Kyle has been gone for six months as well." Geordie acknowledged
"Is it always going to be bitter sweet to enjoy Carina's milestones and at the same time mourn the loss of my husband?" Anya sighed.
"I don't know. I would hope with time that things would get easier."
"I hope so too..." Anya sighed again and wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
"So, maybe to celebrate Cari's six month milestone, you might like to join me on Ten Forward for dinner." Geordie offered. "Apparently babies are welcomed between 20:00hrs and 22:00hrs."
"Oh, you are a tease." Anya smiled and bent down to pick up her daughter. "We would be delighted to join you wouldn't we my love?" Anya asked as she sat her daughter up and the baby was a little wobbly but sat on her own for a few moments before tipping into her mother. Carina giggled in delight as Geordie took the child and Anya collected the few things they had brought with them. "Let's just stop at my cabin so I can put these things away." Anya offered and the two left. They arrived a short time later to Ten Forward and found a spot facing the stars. They ordered a quick dinner and Anya pulled out a few things to feed her daughter.
"What's on the menu tonight?" Geordie asked as Anya opened a few containers to feed Carina.
"Some cereal of course, and then we are trying some peaches tonight." Anya announced with excitement and with a sly smile afterwards. "Then a top up of milk, we might have to leave for that part." Geordie only nodded, Anya was always very discreet with her feeding of Carina, something he felt she didn't need to worry about, but he respected her for her beliefs. The baby ate well and then socialized with everyone around her while Anya and Geordie ate dinner. They were just finishing the last of their meal when Data and Commander Riker walked over.
"Well had we known you two were going to be here, we would have waited on dinner?" Geordie offered as they offered them a few seats around the table.
"I require no food Geordie, we have had this conversations many times." Data started and Riker laughed at the familiar banter of the two friends.
"Captain Picard highlighted your most recent findings in your research at his briefing this morning." Riker shared and Anya looked surprised.
"I wasn't sure anyone was paying any attention to the work yet. I'm just finding some preliminary data, I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't expecting anyone to be reading any of my reports." Anya responded in surprise and Riker shrugged his shoulders.
"Must be something, Captain Picard only reads the reports that he thinks are important during briefing" Riker responded and Carina squawked turning the adults attention back to her. Riker calmly took the baby out of her chair and went to hold her up so she could practice her leg strength. "You my lovely one, are quite the drama queen." Riker laughed as the child smiled and then made a noise with her lips. The group laughed at her antics and with the laughter, Carina proceeded to show off her entire attention grabbing skills. Data watched the child for quite some time before he made a comment about the similarities of children and his cat Spot. This comment caused a huge laugh from Riker, in return startling the baby and she let out a shriek.
"Whatever you need to make it real." Anya laughed and took the now crying child. "I should go, its past Carina's bed time and she's getting cranky."
"I can walk you back to your cabin." Geordie offered and Anya waved him away.
"No, you continue to enjoy your time. I'm just going to go to bed too." Anya took the child out of Ten Forward before she made more of scene. "Shhhhh…" Anya cooed as she waited for the turbo lift to arrive and the child settled some as the familiarity of Anya's body and her soft touch continued. The baby rubbed her eyes and Anya new she was tired and needed to go to sleep. She stepped onto the turbo lift when it arrived and was surprised to find Captain Picard on it.
"Lieutenant Thatcher!" Captain Picard greeted with surprise and Anya swayed with the child in her arms to keep the child from crying again, something that would be uncomfortable in the small space.
"Captain Picard. We appear to meet each other in the most unusual places." Anya started.
"I agree. I was intrigued by your study on the planet formation of the Othello quadrant. I spent some time doing a dig on Kinzia IV a number of years ago. I didn't realize that the commonality of creation pull was similar to those of the Alpha Quadrant." Picard started and Anya smiled as she had at least a small heads up from . Riker had mentioned that he brought something to the meeting, but Anya new Picard had read all her work so far.
"Yes, its quite surprising, Although I plan on spending my time looking at the alignment of the stars and the production of certain gasses next, I did spend a little time looking at the history of the people and the artifacts from the most recent dig.. Quite enlightening…" Anya shared. "They are appearing to follow a very similar pattern of development to that of Earth." Anya's eyes sparkled with excitement as she shared her information with the Captain and before she realized the turbo lift stopped on her deck and she turned to go.
"I look forward to learning more…" Picard finished as Anya turned to go.
"I'm pleased to learn that you are interested." Anya returned and then nodded her head as she turned to go. Carina cried out again and Anya responded to her to needs as she walked her down the hallway back to their cabin. Changing her child into a sleeper, Anya fed her daughter and rocked her to sleep like she normally did every night, staring for a few moment at the stars and then at the box that still sat unopened on Carina's shelf. Her mother would say she was spoiling her daughter by rocking her to sleep, but it was the time in which she felt most connected with Carina and Kyle. How did one spoil a six month old baby, Anya reasoned as she lay the now sleeping baby into her crib and Anya prepared for bed as well.