Surprise!!!

Posted on Tue Nov 28th, 2023 @ 2:50am by Lieutenant JG René Rouen & Lieutenant JG Toareth Rouen (née Darqa)

1,847 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Prelude: Getting Ready to Depart
Location: Toareth's Quarters
Timeline: MD4, 1900 hours

René stood outside Toareth's quarters. He raised his hand for probably the tenth time to ring the door chime and as the previous times, he simply dropped his hand back to his side. He thought back to the last time he had seen her.

Toar had been wearing just the bathrobe she'd worn when she snuck into his room at the family home in Paris. It had been a nightly ritual since their leave together.

Toareth and René would retire for the night and when the rest of the family was asleep, Toar would sneak out of Sabine's room and creep down the hallway to René's room. She would then sneak back to Sabine's room before morning.

René remembered the moment vividly as she had kissed him at his door, touched his cheek and uttered three words he had not expected her to say. He had been too stunned to reply before she slipped out of his room.

René wanted to run away, but he also wanted to know if Toareth's last words to him were true. He was still standing there when the door opened to reveal the impassive and completely unsurprised expression on Lynch's face.

René stood frozen as Lynch studied him for a moment.

The unsurprised expression turned into a wide smile. "Frenchy," he said to René. Over his shoulder, "Aye, Old Girl..."

"Stop calling me that," came Toareth's voice from the lavatory.

"You have a visitor," Lynch finished and stood off to the side to allow René to enter.

"It if is anyone but the captain, then..." Toareth stopped herself in the threshold between the lavatory and the main part of her quarters. She had a 3 year old toddler in one arm and a PADD in the other. She dropped one of those things...not the child. "R...René?" she said. Toareth stepped forward using miniature steps as though talking a regular sized stroll would make her fall. She arrived upon René as he was inside, door sliding closed behind him.

"René," she said again.

"Run nay," said the child.

Toareth reached forward and touched his arm as though testing to make sure he was real. She smiled as well. "It's been..."

"3 years, 9 months, 2 weeks and 4 days." René stood there looking at Toar. He was consumed by emotional pain so intense he wanted to just walk away and find the nearest airlock. He looked at the child and then to Lynch before bringing his gaze back to her. "You seem to have been busy since we last saw one another."

"Very busy," she said. "There is so much to say. The war, my...uh..." she looked at her child and realized René's true meaning in his words. "Oh, you mean Ga...no. No! Galaxies, no."

Lynch, too took a second too long to realize. "Oh, you think...? Absolutely not."

"With him?" she said. "Never."

"No, we never..."

"Not if he was the last man among the stars."

Lynch took a little offense to that, but let it go. "What she said. You got this..."

"...all wrong," Toareth finished Lynch's thought.

"We're just colleagues. Me boss. Old Girl employee. No, sir. Rest assured, I am not the father of the child."

"The child would have hooves," Toareth said looking her child over.

"Hu...ves..." said the child.

Lynch laughed awkwardly at her insult. "Nope. Me...not the father." He looked at Toareth blushing profusely and comforting her child. "No, that would be you my good sir."

Of all the ways to break the news, that was Lynch's preferred method? Toareth stood there, motionless, unbreathing, squinting hard as though attempting to weather a sudden five-fold jab to the gut.

René felt like he had been hit by a phaser set on heavy stunned. His gaze traveling from Lynch to the child. She did have his reddish brown hair and the shape of her face was close to his own. He took a knee and looked at the child closer. She had her mother's eyes and nose. He glanced up at Toar. "Wha...what's her name?"

"My name is Gabby," said the child.

"I like to call her Gabs," said Lynch. "She seems to..."

René didn't even look at Lynch as he started to speak. He just cut the older man off. "You need to shut up or I will march you straight to the brig and have you incarcerated pending charges for impersonating a Starfleet officer, unauthorized entry aboard a Starfleet vessel and anything else I can think of to pass along to the Judge Advocate General."

"He does not know me that well does he," Lynch said to Toareth. He then took on a humor of slight dejection upon realizing Toareth never spoke of him to René.

"Lynch," said Toareth as she likewise knelt down as René had. She did not look at Lynch. "You should be going now."

He understood the cue and simply gave a nod. "Bye Gabs."

"Bye bye Uncle Lynch."

With that Lynch was off.

"René," Toareth started as they were alone, "meet Gabrielle. Gabrielle Immaculée Rouen."

René smiled at Gabrielle. He spoke to Toar, but couldn't take his eyes off his beautiful daughter. "You...you gave her my mother's name and the family name?" He finally was able to look away from Gabrielle and into Toareth's eyes. His emotions were topsy turvy. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, but wasn't sure if they were tears of joy or sorrow. He finally decided they were tears of joy. "Thank you."

"Gabrielle, meet your dada."

"Dada?"

René opened his arms as if to give Gabrielle a hug and quickly realized that was a mistake.

Gabby quickly and shyly retreated into Toareth's arms with a whimper.

"Oh Gabby. He's not going to hurt you." She looked at René. "She just needs to get use to you."

René nodded as a sigh escaped him. It had been a long time since he'd seen Toareth. He looked down at his daughter, a daughter who didn't know him. He gazed at Toar. "We...need to have a long conversation soon."

Toareth stood and pulled Gabby into her arms as she did. "I did promise to tell you all." She nodded at him, understanding that the whole spectrum of emotions was to be had in their coming talks. "I expect many long conversations."

René was still sorting out his emotions as he slowly rose from his crouch. He took a step back to appear less intrusive to his daughter. He blinked a few times as his mind worked on processing everything. It was more than a little overwhelming, to say the least. "She is...."

"Immaculée," Toareth finished his thought for him. She pronounced the word as best as she could but was unconfident in her abilities to speak French. "It means perfect." She turned Gabby toward her and booped her on the nose. "Because she's perfect. Tell you what," she said to Gabby, "why don't you go and say 'hi' to Mr. René." As the child started to whine, "He won't hurt you. Besides, remember what mommy said?"

"You are old and eksper...enced," Gabby replied.

"Experienced. Yeah. I am also strong. If Mr. René tries anything, I'll beat him up."

"You no go away again? Are you mommy?"

Toareth smiled and shook her head. "I will be right here. Ok?"

Gabby nodded and turned toward René.

René, despite how much he wanted to hug Gabrielle, opted to just extend one hand towards the toddler. "Bon jour Mademoiselle Gabrielle. That is how you say hello in my native French."

Gabrielle stepped forward and tentatively shook hands with René. "Bone grrr mistakes Ren Ay. I am named after my Gamma."

René nodded as a small smile crept to his face. "Yes. Yes you are."

Gabrielle looked at René for a moment before turning and running to a box and extracting a picture frame. She looked back at René and frowned for a moment before returning with the picture frame and turning it for him to see.

The photograph was one of René, Toareth and his family all smiling in the photo. She started looking at the picture and then at René. "My dada smiles like this all the time in our pictures. Why don't you smile all the time?"

Gabrielle pointed to the different people in the photograph. "That's my Gampa Peeair. That's Gamma Gabs, who has da same name as me. There's Uncle Zock and Aunt Sabeen. That's mama and dada in the middle. You don't smile, my dada smiles." She looked at Toar and a somber expression came to her face. She looked at the picture and then to René. "Sometimes mama is sad when she looks at my picture. She cries. Sometimes she smiles. Mostly cries doe...mostly."

"Tears, Gabby," Toareth started, "are sometimes tears of happiness. Sometimes, when I cry, it is because I am too happy. Sometimes, I was sad. You came to us during a time of a big fight. Not a fight between me and your dada and not a fight between anyone in that picture. But a fight between two other people. It kept me and your dada apart for a time. He was off trying to stop that fight. I had to work on..."

"...Medsin!" Gabby finished.

"Yes. I had to find medicine. I..." Toareth paused ever so briefly, "I find medicine for healing."

"And dats why you go to Romlus."

"No," Toareth smiled shortly. "I did not go to Romulus itself but to Romulan Space. I did go there to try and find healing."

Toareth's eyes appeared a bit redder than normal.

"Mommy so bwave," Gabby said as she spun to René. "Are you bwave too?"

Toareth blinked hard but a tear ran forth regardless.

René gave Gabrielle a small smile. "I try to be little one." He looked up at Toar. "I try to be."

Gabrielle looked at René smiling and then to the picture. She set the picture down on the floor and stepped up to her father. She looked at him for a moment. She stretched up her arms. "Dada hug me?"

René crouched back down and gave Gabrielle a gentle hug. Tears started to stream as he hugged her, his gaze locking with Toar's.

Toar moved over beside René, lightly crying herself. She knew René was crying tears of happiness, at meeting the daughter he never knew he had prior to 10 minutes ago. Gabby was somber herself but appear to be happy along with her father. Toareth, however, was sad. She wanted to be happy and tried all the same, but sadness dominated. And, Gabby...Toareth remembered Gabby seemed to have a latent sense of empathy. In her father's embrace, she looked at her mother and one long and somber, "Mommy," later and Toareth was doing her best to hide and comfort.

"I'm ok Gabby. Just too happy. Remember what I said about what happens when people get too happy."

"Sometimes dey cwy."

"Yes my little Imma." Toareth looked up to René. "Sometimes they cry."

 

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