Thank you to everybody who read or review the last conversation. You are all absolutely fabulous.
Day 174: Greetings from the other side of chaos
From: Mommy_Susan
To: SuluHG2260
Time arrived: 8/14/2260 00:00:01
Subject: Re: Still not getting better.
Hey, I am sorry I did not write to you when I first got your letter, but the Hamilton has been chaotic. More of me writing condolence letters. You wouldn't expect this happening that much on a diplomatic ship, but we're trying to deal with the fallout of my mom's predecessor. Everybody is in a shoot first ask questions later kind of mood. I fucking hate Marcus.
But I figured I should write to you now that I received a letter from my sister and Ben. OK, Zack's parents are just evil. Although now that they don't want baby K anymore, maybe my dream of the whole family on Yorktown can happen. Except for Kevin and Liz, they will hopefully be on a ship together. I expect the wedding immediately following graduation so that they can apply for tandem assignments after Kevin's graduation. Kevin is going to be about a year behind Liz. Longer if he takes a lighter class load next semester because of D. I feel like he should test out of several classes by virtue of surviving Tarsus.
Yes, I've already put in applications for Yorktown and six Starbases for that matter. I am done with starship life. I want to be near my kid. I also hate my captain so much. How did you get the good captain? Although, I'm thrilled I don't have to share a bathroom with mine as you do. That probably has the potential to be awkward, mainly because there are some days I would like to rip his eyes out with a spoon.
I liked the Captain I had before. She was the best, so of course, mom made her an admiral. Not mom per se, but the Starfleet machine in general. You know my "boss" had the audacity to tell me that if I didn't get pregnant, I probably would've had the Hamilton. That good old pregnancy tax. According to the Hamilton rumor mill/court of public opinion, I likely will never become a captain because of Starfleet sexism, not that I care at this point. Fingers crossed mom fixes that before Liz leaves the Academy.
So, I've heard from the rumor mill that your one-month of uninterrupted exploring didn't happen because of something involving Deneva.. I don't know anything else because the details are extremely classified and there's a satellite blackout going on. Maybe it's a good thing I waited a little while to write to you because I have this feeling that you wouldn't have got the message for a while.
Did you see pictures of Desi at her other birthday party? Why does she keep diving into cake? What is it with her and cake? I hope she doesn't do that with ice cream cake.
Seriously, write back when you get a chance. Your letters are keeping me sane.
Xxxxxx
From: Elizabeth_Chen
To: kitten_loverJJMU
Time arrived: 8/14/2260 00:00:01
Subject: How are you enjoying your Jeremy free world?
OK, wow it took forever for your last email to get here. Like we talked to Jim today long. Deep space instant message due to a family emergency. And, oh my God, what a family emergency it was. So, I know that Jeremy is very long gone or at least should be by now. You would've definitely hit the star base before getting this.
Actually, it's possible that we spoke to Jim a second time before you read this letter. But that is kind of what happens during a family emergency. Kevin is still trying to process the fact that Sam has a kid. We both are. It's a surprise.
Maybe there's a ton of guilt tied up in there too because Sam died saving us. So because both Kevin and I are alive, there's another kid in the universe growing up without a father. That's a therapy appointment right there. More than one actually.
Although, I heard you're being a good friend to Peter, which I'm glad. You of all people know how difficult this is going to be for him and I'm pleased that you're going to be there. I'm sure by the time you get this we'll already know if Peter is staying on board. I think he will be. Mom is calling in a lot of favors. She feels like she must because if it weren't for him, she would've arrived after executions took place. It was still a bloodbath, but less of one because of what Sam and Winona did.
Okay, let's move on from the subject of Tarsus to the love life of the starship Enterprise. Much safer topic, for me anyway. I felt terrible about calling the break up between Pav and the doctor because I feel like he really liked her, but maybe it's best not to date somebody who has so many other things going on now. Also, the age difference was a bit much right now. Maybe in 10 to 15 years, it would be different, but here we are now.
I know you're upset because the guy you like doesn't feel the same way about you. However, I feel like what you had was a safety crush. You allowed yourself to have feelings for someone that you knew couldn't reciprocate them, so that way you weren't really risking anything. At least he better not reciprocate them at this point. As I stated, things would be different in 15 years, but that's not where we are now.
Are you aware by now that your aunt has moved to San Francisco? OK, most of her stuff is still in Georgia, but she's already on the job because the Johnson versus Johnson custody case is getting nasty. I am so glad that Sulu is the one who impregnated my sister and that whole family is stable. It would've been awful if Desi's dad was the other guy. I just have this feeling that he totally would've been like the Johnsons.
Your aunt is cool now. She probably needs extra time in therapy, but who doesn't. Again, we have additional sessions planned because of Sam guilts. She is doing OK. Mostly.
Your grandfather is a dick. I bet you wouldn't be surprised at all for me to tell you that Judge Lee has tried to convince Shawn to fire her, but if you knew Shawn, you would know that was just stupid. He told him to fuck off, literally. I thought about including the audio file, but I'm not entirely sure how you feel about your grandfather.
Anyway, we've been drafted into helping her pack or rather I volunteered. This weekend, the babies have a sleepover at Sulu's sister's house. They also lost their mom on Deva. Not that she was ever really a mom, but they're still affected. That's all the messy.
Regardless, I feel like getting out of San Francisco for a few days, and I was promised I get to have tea with some of the petty bitches that have been bad mouthing your family. I feel the need for vengeance.
I promise to send video.
XXXX
From: SuluHG2260
To: Mommy_Susan
Time sent: 8/14/2260 06:13:01
Subject: Re: Still not getting better.
Yep, she would go headfirst into ice cream cake. Or so I've been told. I got pictures anyway because apparently those get here faster than actual emails. I'm not surprised.
We're starting a month and a half of deep space exploration. We are doing the initial intake of planet X4Z3. We think it might be suitable for human inhabitants, but we're still exploring. I'm going to get to spend two weeks on the planet just cataloging plant species with the science team, possibly longer. It's going to be spectacular. I'm looking forward to it after everything that's been happening the last few weeks.
So good news, I am no longer sharing a bathroom suite with my captain and first officer. Last week I moved to the old chief medical officer's room. Yes, it's very close to sickbay, but I don't mind. I have this new room because Deva went badly and Jim now has custody of his nephew that he didn't know about.
Literally, nothing at all. We didn't even know until the DNA test came back. I don't know all the details, but apparently, Jim's brother got his girlfriend pregnant before leaving for Tarsus, and well you know what happened on Tarsus probably better than I do. Regardless, said girlfriend never told anyone in the family about her son. Okay, she tried last year, but Winona was in rehab at the time. Yeah, I'm not getting as much gossip, now that I'm not sharing a bathroom with Jim.
Anyway, she and her son were stationed on Deneva as part of the research team there. She worked with Alicia a.k.a. my sister's children's biological mom. Unfortunately, there was an incident on Deneva that is too classified to discuss in this email, but she died along with Alicia.
I now know what it's like to write condolence letters and they suck. It's almost enough to make me rethink wanting to become a captain someday, but I want to make sure there are better captains, so you and others don't have to deal with awful ones.
I think its absolute bullshit that you're getting penalized for being pregnant and the fact that it still happening is completely fucked up. You're good at your job. I hope that with more women in the higher echelons of Starfleet due to the Marcus fallout, this will become less of a problem. You deserve everything, and you shouldn't be penalized for choosing your family.
I mean Jim essentially had to step down to let Spock be a captain. Jim was a great captain, terrified, but he was good at his job. Spock is also a good captain, but honestly, they're a team which essentially makes me their real first officer, but with fewer HR responsibilities.
I would have hated to have to handle the Jeremy situation, but Jim did well. Okay, I'm just glad the kid is gone. I'm sure Gina already emailed you about that. Her candle lighting was successful. Peter, Jim's nephew, has taken his spot.
I have a whole gaggle of teenagers doing fencing. Peter joined last night, and that kid has some aggression issues that need to be worked out. He is also clinging to Jo Jo for dear life, but I think he'll do well among the other members of the Enterprise Orphans Club. May our daughter never become a member.
Xxx
From: kitten_loverJJMU
To: Elizabeth_Chen
Time sent: 8/14/2260 21:56:12
Subject: How are you enjoying your Jeremy free world?
Jeremy free life is absolutely wonderful. I have friends. I don't have to worry about people putting laxatives in my food. I'm not being constantly bullied. Although what he was doing to me was preferable to what he was doing to the Ashleys. Maybe I should be thankful he thought I was too young. Save me from having to deal with inappropriate touching.
I hope somebody choked on a scone during your Atlanta tea party with the moms of my former friends. The country club moms of Sandy Springs can be vicious, so it should prove to be entertaining. Yes, please send video. Although the fact that I haven't got any yet makes me think it didn't happen. The video always gets here first. I heard from Sulu and I'm glad my aunt is far away from Grandpa Lee. He was just awful. Yes, please send me that audio file.
I'm so glad she is in San Francisco. Not being anywhere near Judge Lee is the best thing for everyone. Please keep an eye on her. She's fragile.
Peter has begun to paraphrase song lyrics, making it up as he goes. He's getting through it as best as he can. He's not crying anywhere near as much as I did.
However, it's nice to have someone else in my class that's working at the same grade level. I mean, there were some things like literature that I'm working on the same material as Jay and the Ashleys, but other things I am not so it's good to have a contemporary.
Peter understands me, or maybe I understand Peter, but in a lot of ways, it's different. One, his mom actually loved him and didn't want to leave him. Two, he wasn't with his father because his father already died. I am not going to ask too many questions, but I know it wasn't good. Finally, there was probably no way to keep what was happening on Deneva from happening. I kind of feel like I could have stopped the tree thing from happening. We both have survivor's guilt. Apparently, you do too. Margarita says that is normal and is helping us both work through it. I think she's already handed Peter his own therapy journal.
So I've talked to Pav about his sister, and he really does get what I've been going through more than a lot of people. I would have hugged him, but I'm not sure he would have found it appropriate. I'm still trying to figure out how to act around him. I mean, I like him more now that I know the truth about him burying his sister before arriving at the Academy, but I'm 12 (or will be in a few days), and he's 19. That's not going to work anytime soon, mainly because he sees me as a little sister replacement, a little sister replacement for his dead sister. There are so many issues right there.
Maybe now that I thought about it, my crush on him is just my attempt to be like the other Ashleys, but I should remember that they're all 2 to 4 years older than me. Although, most of the Ashleys are now lamenting the fact that Uncle Jim is gay. I'm not going point out the bisexual thing because let's be honest, he's now Spock sexual.
Adolescence is hard, but at least I have friends. J, Ashley two, and Peter are definitely my friends. Ashley one may get there. Now she's kind of sorry about breaking up her aunt and the boyfriend up since her aunt is so sad right now, but in the end, it's probably for the best. Maybe. Again, adolescence is hard.
To be continued