2.9.2262
Starbase 11
Restaurant

"No peeking!" Kirk's words were firm but his tone rich with amusement.

Another crewmember might have said, "This is dumb. Just tell me the surprise." But not L'Naym.
When her Captain had invited her and Tuskaro to one of the starbase's many restaurants and then had
asked her to both close and cover her eyes, she had readily assented with a chuckle.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" she asked

"Not yet," her Soul Brother answered. She heard him speak to her lifemate. "Tuskaro, this will be a
shock for you too, but don't say anything until she sees."

A moment later she heard footsteps. Then she heard her lifemate gasp and felt his surprise through their Bond.

"Okay, Open!"

L'Naym removed her hands and opened her eyes to behold…

"D'Ray!?"

Before her, light years from Nlia, stood her cousin/Soul Sister, D'Ray Torash.

With a delighted squeal, L'Naym sprung to her feet and crushed her Soul Sister to her in a joyous embrace,
which D'Ray returned just as ardently.

L'Naym pulled back and stared at her Soul Sister in shock. "But how…?" she gasped.

D'Ray grinned. "Captain Kirk helped to arrange it. And I'm indebted to him- I not only get to see you,
but this is my first trip offworld. It's been amazing so far."

Kirk for his part was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "You would not believe the effort it took to get it
all coordinated! Contacting her, making schedule arrangements, and above all keeping any word of this
from reaching you! I couldn't let Tuskaro know either because there are no secrets between lifemates."

"How long will you be visiting?" L'Naym asked.

"I'll be at this base for exactly three days." D'Ray paused. "And then I'm coming with you."

"What!?"

"I'm taking a vacation. Vronie and Betrell will be managing the company while I'm away.
Kordeno will be helping too; he's been insisting that he's ready for more responsibility."
She chuckled, "Even Bludye will be helping out. You know how my little brother loves to entertain."

She nodded toward Kirk. "Captain Kirk's made the arrangements with Starfleet. I'll be a civilian
guest onboard the Saratoga for nearly two months. I'm going to help you through the last part of
your pregnancy and a few weeks after the baby comes."

Her face grew serious. "I know the past couple of months have been hard on you, Sister.
I've noticed it in our subspace talks and the Captain's noticed too. A pregnancy is normally
a joyous occasion, but it can often be rough emotionally and the more family one has around
them the better."

Her smile returned. "So…I'm going to help you out through your last month. And then I'm going
to stick around for awhile to help with my new nephew…" her eyebrow raised "before you go home
for maternity leave and he gets swamped by the rest of the family!"

Her smile turned mischievous. "And besides…I think it will do your crew good to meet another Nlian.
We can't have them thinking that all of our people are as soft spoken and gentle as you and Tuskaro."
Her eyes twinkled wickedly. "Oh yes. It will do them good to meet someone who's more…lively!"

She chuckled. "I'm looking forward to meeting your ship's Tellerite Chef." She began to laugh harder.
"And from what Tuskaro's told me about Dr. McCoy, I'm sure that he and I are going to be great friends!"

Kirk laughed as well and stood. "I'll leave the three of you to chat. I've got to get ready for those meetings.
From what Admiral Pike's told me so far, I probably won't be seeing much of you until we're ready to leave."

"Jim." L'Naym held out her hand to her Soul Brother.

Without hesitation he took it.

Two Souls touched.
A Joined Soul and a Soul she and her Other Half had touched.

*Jim…Soul Brother…*

She flooded him with her love and gratitude.

He flooded her with his love and appreciation.

*Thank you, Soul Brother. Thank you…so much.*

*You're welcome, Sis.*

He began to chuckle. *From what you've told me and from speaking to her, I'm pretty sure D'Ray's
going to have a lot of fun with Bones!"

She chuckled as well. *Oh yes. My sister's a bit more…mellow now than she was when we were
children. But some things never change over the years. And one thing that hasn't is that the less sense
of humor someone has, the more tempting they are for her to target!*