Unexpected Reunion.

Posted on Wed May 7th, 2025 @ 3:25pm by Lieutenant Faith Hawkins & Keira McLachlan

1,598 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: R&R
Location: Various.

With USS Liddell now docked at Deep Space 9, Corps of Engineering’s Commander Matthew Hawkins disembarked. As it was an unexpected detour, he had not told his two daughters about his impending arrival. He wanted it to be a surprise. All he knew was on that particular day, Faith, Keira and their respective daughters would be dining together aboard Britannic. A call with Faith last night had revealed this. After obtaining permission to board Britannic, Matthew did so. He had spent several years on the design teams for the Galaxy, Nebula programmes. However, he had somehow never been aboard a Nebula-class. Something Matthew found peculiar, considering his involvement in designing certain aspects of the class. Britannic was his first.

Upon arrival in Britannic’s lounge several minutes after boarding, Matthew quickly located his daughters, granddaughters. It wasn’t too busy. He suspected, after sharing a call with Keira prior to Faith, its usual patrons were elsewhere. “Is this seat taken?” asked Matthew, standing at the end of two tables Keira had placed together.

Everyone at the table was stunned. Before Faith, Keira could speak, Matthew was being hugged by three of his four granddaughters. Heidi, Lydia, Meredith. “Hello girls.” said Matthew, smiling at each of the three girls in turn. He then waved at Beatrice, who enthusiastically waved her teething toy in his direction. Matthew began to refer to his youngest grandchild as Bumble Bea almost immediately after her birth. The nickname had very much stuck.

“You didn’t…” began Keira, as shocked as her sister was of their father’s presence. The words she wanted to get out were a complete jumble. Matthew had given neither her, or Faith, any indication he would be arriving at Deep Space 9 in their respective calls last night. It had been several months since Keira, Heidi and Lydia had seen Matthew. She stood up, then tightly embraced her father once able. “It’s so good to see you again, Dad.” continued Keira, as Matthew returned the embrace. “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”

Matthew smiled, expressing the same sentiment. “I thought I’d surprise you all.” he began. “Liddell has had to dock, we’ve ran into a couple of issues.” another pause, before turning to Faith. “We’re testing a couple of things Faith here might be interested in.” A couple of things Matthew would not be elaborating on in this particular location, due to their sensitivity.

“How long are you here for?” asked Keira, finally letting go of Matthew.

“Well, potentially a week. Could be longer.” he confirmed, although there was a lot for he and his team to untangle. He then proceeded to the other side of the table, where he pulled over a chair and sat down. “We won’t know for sure until we’ve finished investigating.”

Faith had just about realised that, yes. Matthew was very much here. Her father’s surprise visit wasn’t a daydream. “I can come and take a look if you like?” she offered. In truth, she wanted to see what Matthew was alluding to close up. The hints her father had dropped just before Beatrice was born piqued Faith’s interest. Highly.

Matthew nodded. “Of course.” he said, before turning his attention to a game his two elder granddaughters were playing on a PADD. “What’s this then, girls?”

“We have to find the right words for the gaps.” explained Lydia, who was five, as Heidi, who was seven, chose the next word. On the screen was a paragraph about an educational subject, with several words missing. Options for each of the gaps were provided at the bottom of the screen. “It’s super fun.” said Heidi, proudly showing her grandfather the nearly completed paragraph.

“Well done.” he said, praising the co-operation between the two sisters. To his left, He could see Meredith drawing, this time it looked like another family photo. “Is that me?” asked Matthew, pointing to a tall male figure with spectacles which were larger than his head. He chuckled when Meredith confirmed it was her grandfather, with a cheeky grin on her face.

Matthew then turned back to the other end of the table, where Faith was giving Beatrice a bottle of milk. “How do you all fancy dinner at mine tonight?” he suggested. “Aboard Liddell. I’ll even cook my specialty.”

The response was resounding, enthusiastic. Matthew’s speciality was a firm family favourite. With that settled, Matthew briefly departed to get himself a drink from the replicator. Thankfully, he had been assigned large enough quarters aboard Liddell to host six guests. It would be a challenge to fit everyone in comfortably, but Matthew was sure he’d work it out. It was a far simpler task than those which lay ahead of him, his team over the next week or so.

Later that day…

The smell of Matthew’s signature dish wafted around his quarters, making his visitors even more hungry than they were before they’d arrived. The table had been set, with Matthew’s high attention to detail evident. Everything had to be minutely accurate. He, many others knew this was very much the engineer in him. Accompanying the cottage pie would be cauliflower cheese. Not one for cooking from scratch while working away, Matthew had pulled out all of the stops tonight. Only the best for his daughters, granddaughters. The same standard was applied for his son Joseph, and so far only grandson, Matthew Jr. To this day, Matthew was incredibly humbled his only son had named his first born after him. He was also pleased by his ten-year-old grandson’s fledgling, avid interest in starship engineering. Matthew did his best to encourage it.

“If you could all make your way to the table, please…” began Matthew, examining both dishes in the oven. “…dinner will be with you in a few minutes or so.” He then began to arrange the plates ready for serving. Such was the enthusiasm for this dish back at home, Matthew was confident there wouldn’t be a single morsel left. He was sure it would also be the case for the dessert he had chosen.

As requested, everyone made their way over to the table. Keira’s assistance was offered, but politely declined. As far as Matthew was concerned, his guests were there to enjoy themselves. First taking the cottage pie from the oven, he divided it into portions. These were then transferred each to a plate, with Beatrice’s portion pureed prior to going into a bowl. He then divided up the cauliflower cheese, before placing it onto the plates of those who would be having it.

Two at a time, Matthew carried his guests’ meals over to the table. After taking his own over, he poured some wine for himself, his daughters. “To family.” he said, raising a toast. He couldn’t help but smile when his granddaughters raised their glasses of orange juice. It was moments like this, as well as similar ones including Joseph and Matthew Jr, for which he lived. “Tuck in.” he instructed, before doing so himself.

The conversation around the table was pleasant, heart-warming. A range of subjects were being discussed, from what his elder granddaughters had done at school that day, to fond family memories in the recent and distant past. Matthew wished evenings like this could be more frequent, but things were the way they were. Instead, he intended to maximise every second of time he could with his daughters, granddaughters.

A short while later, dinner had been eaten. A resounding success, with every plate around the table completely empty. “Who wants pudding?” asked Matthew, turning towards his granddaughters in anticipation of their enthusiastic response. “What is it Grandad?” asked Heidi.

“Apple crumble and ice cream.” he replied, the excitement from his granddaughters almost deafening. “It’ll be ready soon.”

As with the main meal, the dessert was thoroughly enjoyed by all. As expected, varying amounts of Heidi, Lydia and Meredith’s portions ended up around their mouths. Matthew refused to relent to his daughters’ offers, bordering on insistence, to help clear the table. He instead dispatched his guests to the lounge area of his quarters, where a few family games would be played before bed time. Matthew had managed to find a way to accommodate everyone for the night, the engineer in him rather enjoying planning it out in his head before putting it into practice.

“Dad?” said Faith, approaching the kitchen area, Beatrice held in her arms. She gently rubbed her baby daughter’s back in a small, circular motion.

Matthew looked up from sorting through the pans, crockery, cutlery. He had borrowed everything he needed for the evening from the galley. He thought if he was going to go all-out with the food, then he wasn’t going to cut the last corner with the crockery and cutlery. “No, you can’t help me with this. But if you need something, I’ll be with you in a minute.” he replied, smiling.

“We love you.” said Faith, every word being heartfelt. Not only was Matthew a brilliant Dad to his three children, but he was also an equally brilliant grandfather to his five grandchildren. He was loved, thought of more than the extremely modest Matthew ever gave himself credit for. “I know, and it’s reciprocated.” responded Matthew, watching as Keira finished setting up a board game with assistance from her daughters, older niece.

“Now go on. I’ll be over in a couple of minutes.”

 

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