How I Met Your Mother

Posted on Wed Dec 27th, 2023 @ 9:15pm by Lieutenant JG Toareth Rouen (née Darqa) & Gabrielle Rouen & Lieutenant JG René Rouen & Staff Warrant Officer Bradford Keselowski
Edited on on Wed Dec 27th, 2023 @ 9:17pm

2,732 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Prelude: Getting Ready to Depart
Location: Sick Bay / Rene's Quarters
Timeline: After "Do Unicorns Like Pancakes"

"Chef Kez, Chef Kez," Gabrielle called out as she had her zoomies around the reception area of Sick Bay. Toareth was off making some rounds about the ship. The Little One was under the care of the Sick Bay staff.

For the moment, her handler was none other than, "Chief Keselowski," he spelled out. "Chief." Gabrielle ran up to his presence at his desk. "Can you say 'chief'?"

With a big nod, Gabrielle returned with, "Chef."

Brad picked her up and sat her upon the desk. "Well I guess that is close enough." He looked at the time. "About time for your old man to come get you I think."

"Dada is not that old, siwwy," she said.

"It's a figure of speech is all."

"Chef Kez, what is a pountewr?"

"Pounter?" he repeated the word. "If, by that, you mean 'pounder' than I suppose it is any item that weighs a pound or so." Brad went back to his work at his terminal, working through some requests and other items in his queue.

"Chef Kez, what are you a chef of?"

"Chief...I am chief of nursing and Sick Bay reception. I do inventories, schedule appointments, make sure appointees make those appointments. On occasion I save lives and mend injuries. I am also a CLS, which is combat life saver. I can go on away missions should they need."

"That means you are bwave."

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"So if I were to falw, wight now and..."

"I would catch you before the 'and'. My reflexes are too fast. See?" and he snatched her up and laid her out, belly down, in his arms and walked about holding her straight out. "Hey, you're flying."

"Yay," she called out, "I'm fwying."

One spin later and Kez was face to face with Rene. Kez froze still and then slowly moved to place Gabrielle down on her feet.

Rene had entered Sickbay to see his daughter flying about. It brought a smile to his face to see her having fun. He decided to have a little fun himself. He quit smiling and quirked an eyebrow as the nurse spun to face him. He sighed and walked over to the replicator and programmed it to produce a costume as he looked over his shoulder at them both. "First rule of pretending to be a super hero. You must always look the part." He returned with a red costume with black polka-dots. "This is the uniform of best super hero to have ever protected Paris. It is the uniform of the Miraculous Ladybug."

Gabrielle inhaled about half the air in Sick Bay as she gazed upon the costume in awe. "You mean I get to be a wady bug?" She took the costume as her Dada handed it to her. "My name now is miwacwus wady bug," and she started trying to put the costume on over the clothes she was already wearing. She was showing some difficulty.

"It is good to see you pulled through, sir," said Kez. He did not want to use the word 'war' in front of Gabrielle. "Your daughter," he looked at Gabrielle, still trying to figure out the costume, "has been a delight."

René looked at his daughter and nodded. "That she is Mister...," he turned to Brad, "...sorry didn't get the name."

"Brad Keselowski. Staff Warrant Officer, U.S.S. Britannic. People just call me Chief Kez. We've met before. Stardancer I believe?"

René nodded slowly. "Sorry, that was a long time ago and most of my off duty time was spent with Toar...Cadet Darqa." He shook hands with the man.

"Hhmm," Kez hummed as they shook hands. Kez recalled them spending time together...much time together, to include the 'physical' in the exam room. But he decided it best not to make mention of any of that.

René glanced at Gabrielle and smiled. "Hey there Ladybug. How about we head to Dada's? Maybe with a stop off at Mama's to get some toys to play with tonight."

"Yeah," she said automatically and reached for René's hand.

René took Gabrielle by the hand and the pair of them swung by Family Quarters. He waited in the doorway to Gabrielle's bedroom as she gathered a few things to play with. He made sure the common area was picked up before their departure and left a note saying Gabrielle was with him. "Ready to go to Dada's Ladybug?"

"Ready to go to Dada's," she repeated excitedly.

René watched as Gabrielle played with her toys. There was not much sense to her goings-on but there was nothing but joy to be had while watching the child play with thoughts so innocent.

The plushie of Flotter bounced about, leaned to the side and fell off of Sparkles. "Uh oh. Flotter fell off. Better call a doctowr," Gabby said. As she turned Sparkles around to gallop back to Flotter, Gabrielle's mind went back to a question she had asked Kez earlier. He did not have much of an answer, so Gabrielle turned to the smartest man in the galaxy. "Dada, what is a pountewr?"

René was sitting on the floor, cross legged, as they played. He looked at Gabrielle curiously. "Do you mean pounter? A pounter is...."

"Pountewr," Gabby repeated as she stood, giving her Dada her full attention. "Mama was talking in her sweep. I shook her. She said I sceered away her night tewwows. Gabrielwe bwave. She said pounter 'fore she waked." Gabrielle furrowed her brow. "No, she said fwounder. No." She stomped her foot, crossed her arms and frowned. "I can't wemembewr."

René thought for a moment. Gabrielle's second pronunciation was very close to the word founder. He cautiously spoke the word. "Founder? Mama used the word Founder in her sleep?"

"Hhm mmhm mhhmm," she shrugged as she hummed out an 'i don't know.' "Sounds 'bout wight. Then she waked up and say I screered the night tewwows away." Gabrielle flopped down and continued playing.

"Don' you wowwy Fwotterw. Doctorw Sparkles is here to help." She bent Sparkles down to use his horn to pick up Flotter and flip him onto his back so he could ride again. "Yay. Fwotterw all betterw now."

René focused on playing with his daughter for the next several hours, until he spied Gabrielle yawning. He looked at the wall chronometer and realized it was nearing 2015 hours. "Time for bed Ladybug. Would you like for Dada to read you a bedtime story?"

"Mmhmmm," she nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Can you tell me how you and Mama met?"

René smiled as he grabbed Gabrielle's overnight bag and pulled out her pajamas. "I will after you use the fresher and get into pajamas. Fair?"

"Fairw," Gabrielle said as she popped up and started toward the lavatory. It only took three steps before her foot found a stray toy and she performed a fairly impressive belly flop onto the floor. "I'm OK," she popped up again and ran onwards toward the fresher. "Why is it fwesher?" Gabrielle called back from inside. "Mama says lavatowy.

René wasn't entirely sure how to answer the question. He had actually heard many different names for the bathroom. "I suppose because it's where one goes to freshen up after work. However it has been called different things throughout history. You can call it whatever you feel is best for you.

"Fwe...sher," said Gabby through a handful of water that she was rubbing on her face. "Fwesher," she repeated. "Easierw than saying lavatowy."

Rene was still getting used to the whole parenting gig and was a bit curious. He picked up toys scattered about the living room and made it some what presentable. He wasn't sure if Toar would stop by, but just in case.

Gabrielle came jogging out after a moment. "Uncle Wynch calls it watrine. I like the way Dada says it." She stopped in front of him and shouted, "Fwesher," with a flop of her arms then held her arms up, wanting to be picked up.

René scooped his daughter up and carried her to the bedroom. He used one hand to pull back the comforter and slid Gabrielle under the covers. "So Ladybug wants to hear how Mama and Dada met."

Gabrielle gave a big nod. "Mmhhmmm. Mama said something about a sworwd...circa...circwle fourwteen hundwed."

René's expression grew wistful as he sat on the bed next to Gabrielle. "Well it happened after Dada had been in a duel with the evil Captain Rouchfort. A man who worked for Cardinal Richelieu. I was wounded slightly and went to the infirmary at Starfleet Academy. Mama healed Dada, making him all better. I asked your Mama to dinner and we became friends. We served together on a starship and grew closer over time. Dada introduced Mama to Grandma Gabrielle and Grandpa Pierre. I wanted to ask Mama to marry me, but Uncle Lynch arrived and Mama had to go with him."

A confused expression came across Gabrielle's face; one of her attempt to understand everything René had said. One thing exploded to the surface though. "Go ask her now. Ask her to marwwy now." Gabrielle followed that up with a phrase she had picked up here and there. "That is an orderw."

René smiled at Gabrielle. "It's not that simple. Your mama and I have some things to talk about." He pulled up the bedcover, tucking in his daughter. "Time for you to get some sleep." He leaned down and kissed Gabrielle's forehead. "I will sit here until you go to sleep."

Gabrielle appeared as though she did not know what to make of what René had said but accepted his judgment unreservedly. "All wight." She positioned Flotter to her left half sticking out from under the covers and snuggled with Sparkles. "Night night Dada," and she closed her eyes.

René sat on the side of the bed quietly looking down at his daughter as she fell asleep. He knew in his heart that he still wanted to marry Toar. There was just a lot of things to work out. He was not the same person who had fallen in love with Toar years. He was still dealing with his own personal demons from the Dominion War. Could he be a good husband, and more importantly, a good father.

René spent fifteen minutes pondering these questions and more before silently slipping out and taking a seat on the couch. He picked up a PADD and read several chapters of the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. He was still reading an hour or so later when the door chime announced the arrival of a visitor. He rose from the couch and answered the door.

Toareth was setting her PADD to standby and replacing it in her satchel when the door opened. She had previously thought to just return to her quarters but, as she had been passing by, felt through her empathy that René was still awake.

She smiled at him. "I just got off shift. Was going to turn in, but wanted to check in on you...two. Hope you don't mind."

René returned the smile as he stepped to the side and gestured for Toareth to enter. "Of course. I was actually thinking you would show up." He pointed to bedroom door. "Gabrielle has been asleep for a little over an hour and a half. Go ahead and check on her if you want."

"Oh, no...it's uh..." she pointed to her head, "I tend to wake her up checking on her. I don't make a peep but...I think it is an empathy thing. She tends to feel when I am checking on her. Besides, I know she's fine." Toareth stepped closer to René and opened her arms as though wanting to give him a hug. "I wanted, more, to check on you; to see how you are doing."

René stepped into Toareth's embrace and wrapped his arms about her in return. The last few days had overwhelmed him somewhat. It was, however, a rather joyful reunion. "I am fine. We are going to be fine too. What matters the most is we are together." He shifted slightly to gaze into Toareth's eyes.

"You," she said peering back into his eyes, switching from one to the other, "and Gabrielle, you have turned my life into another direction. I would not trade this for anything." She gave him another hug then released her embrace of him. "You two had a good time I hope."

René smiled and gave a single nod of his head. "We did. I replicated pizza for us both. Her choice of toppings of course. She had ice cream for dessert. We played with Flotter and Sparkles until a little after 20 hundred hours and she went to the fresher and got into her pajamas. You wouldn't believe the bedtime story she wanted to hear."

"Flotter and Friends Save the Forest? She asks for that almost every other day."

"She wanted to hear about how we met. I told her you healed Dada after his sword fight with the evil Captain Rouchfort. I told her about us serving on the Stardancer and finished with Paris." René was thoughtful for a moment.

"Oh?" she said, surprised. "Did you tell her about that dress I wore. I still have it you know. And that night is still the only time I ever wore it." She shook her head. "I don't know why I keep it really. I cannot think of another occasion where I would want to wear a dress."

René took a deep breath as he extracted a small felt box from his pocket. "I know we said we were going to talk things through, but...seeing her and remembering us."

It is sometimes said that an El-Aurian can feel the passage of time, can sense it ticking by, physically. El-Aurians do have a lot of time on their hands after all. They might as well be well acquainted with it. Toareth never truly knew what that meant exactly, nor had she any experience where she truly felt she experienced the passage of time in a real and physical sense right there in a particular moment. This time, however, she could feel the friction of time passing by, spans of near eternity stretched by between each of her heartbeats. Time itself seemed to have forgotten how to count just as her vocal chords suddenly decided to fail her utterly.

Toareth had studied human customs for quite some time and she knew, albeit could not bring herself to believe, the event taking place this exact second. Finally a simple, "uh..." squeaked from her mouth.

René took one knee as he opened the small box to reveal a dazzling diamond engagement ring. "Toareth Darqa...would you consider making our becoming a family truly official and consent to marriage?"

Fully understanding the gravity of the situation, an avenue to finally boot her closest companion, Loneliness, from her life for the next several decades, and the means to provide for Gabrielle all that she needed, on top of finally finding a sense of true belonging, Toareth, still frozen in time, could only manage the welling of tears in her eyes. A sense of overwhelming joy engulfed her, as though joy had become a blanket and she could wrap herself up in it. All fear and worry vanished in an instant. Her ability to speak had also vanished apparently.

"Mama," came Gabrielle's voice from inside her room. The door slid open. "Mama," she said again running her eyes with one hand. Her other hand holding onto Sparkles, "are you too happy that is hurwts again?"

Toareth finally made a gasp. She could only nod to Gabrielle at first. "Yeah," she said. "Yes, Dearheart. I am." To René, with her head nearly vibrating up and down, "Yes. I want that."

Rene took Toareth by the hand and walked with her over to where their daughter stood in the doorway to his bedroom. He lifted Gabrielle up with one arm as he slid the other one around Toareth's waist. "We are going to be a proper family soon. I promise you both." He gave each of them a soft kiss on their cheek to emphasize his promise to them.

"Yay," cheered Gabrielle, then, "What is pwoperw?"

 

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