<USS Avalon> Every Mother's Child by Sussanna McEntire & Li Vilya

Every Mother's Child 
by Sussanna McEntire &  Li Vilya
with Ming Kabuki, Lilin & Steven Striker
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He hadn't meant to but Ming dozed off, his arm around his family.   He awoke 
with a guilty start and realized that Lilin had dozed off in her chair,  too.  
He tilted his head slightly--listening.  No more sounds of  phaser fire or 
explosions.  The lack of them didn't mean it was safe but it  was certainly 
more 
reassuring than their presence .  
 
"Hey, little Mama, wake up, it's quieted down some.  I think maybe  we should 
dash out to Sick Bay," he said as he stood with a  stretch.

Standing, Anna whirled away from the comm unit.  She needed  to see Mac and 
Annabelle.  It was a bloody stab in the dark, she'd been  completely b
ullshitting that she knew for a fact Josh was over there but if  there was a 
chance, 
even a tiny one, they had to take it.  As she stomped  out into Main Sick Bay, 
a 
hand grabbed at her wrist, stopped her  instantly.

Tired, pain-filled eyes smiled up into hers.  "Thanks  Doc," the yeoman with 
the chest wound said.  "Tress said you saved my  life."

Her whole face softened.  "What's your name,  Yeoman?"

"Striker, Steven J."  Chuckling, he added, "the J's for  Justice, can you 
believe it?  There are times when I think my parents had  one hell of a sense 
of 
humour."

Anna sat on the edge of the bed, the  young man's hand still on her wrist.  
"How do you feel?  Any  pain?"

"I feel fine," he lied unconvincingly as he winced.  "Well...  it kinda 
hurts, but nothing I've not felt before."

"Hurts is a bad thing,  Yeoman..."

"Call me Steven," he winked.

At that, Anna actually  blushed.  Grinning, she added as she stood to get a 
hypo, "You can't be  feeling that bad if you can still flirt with  me."
 
Vilya had no idea how long she'd been out but she wanted out of that  room.  
She wanted her son to start seeing the world and she wanted to see  her 
father.  She handed the baby to his father then stood up.  She  didn't feel at 
all 
shaky but she did allow Lilin to help her clean up and dress  in a replicated 
uniform.  
 
"Thank you," she said while the two of them were still in the fresher  area.  
She hugged the other woman.  "Thank you for  everything."
 
"You have a beautiful boy and that's thanks enough," Lilin replied with  an 
embarrassed flush.  "Now, let's take him to see his  grandfather."
 
"We're ready, Ming," Vilya said brightly as they re-entered the main  room.
 
Ming  nodded toward the doors to the outside as he handed the baby back to  
Vilya.  "Let me lead.  It's a quick dash and I hope to God it's really  a safe 
one, too."

"When can I go back on duty?" Striker asked quietly and  nervously as Anna 
pumped him with pain-killers again.

"I'm going to  recommend a week's leave.  This type of injury needs to be  
monitored."  Patting him on his shoulder, she tried to leave again but his  
hand 
clamped over her shoulder.

"I'm gonna be okay, though,  right?"

"Of course," she said brightly.

And then his cheeky smile  was back.  "Good and as long as you're the one 
doing the monitoring, I  think I can live with that." 
 
It was just as Ming said: a quick  dash.  No time for sight seeing or 
gawking, either, just straight into Sick  Bay.  Except, when they got there the 
doors 
wouldn't  budge.
 
"Intruder alert protocols," Vilya  realized.  She tapped her com badge with 
her free hand.   Nothing.  Her nose scrunched up in a frown then she eyed the 
control panel  outside Sick Bay.  "Lilin, can I have your hair pin a moment?  I 
 promise I won't damage  it."
 
The nurse handed over the  requested item then Vilya handed the baby to her 
while Ming kept a close eye  out.  She pried the panel cover off and peered at 
the guts closely.   No, not damaged, she realized.  Good.  She touched the pin 
to the  proper relay and grinned as she heard the proper chirping reply of an 
opened  comm.  "Excuse me, Doctor, but I think we'd really like to come  in."

Her mouth turned up in a half smile as Anna recognised the voice and  then 
she frowned.  "I'd ask what you're doing outside when you're supposed  to be in 
my quarters, but that would be redundant."  Turning her attention  to Tress, 
she said, "I'm going to open the doors, cover us."

The Bolian  nodded and took post as Anna opened the doors, the family 
scuttled inside and  she locked them all in again.  "See, now I can ask: what 
the 
fucking hell  are you doing wandering the  corridors?"
 

"Forty feet isn't wandering, Anna.  We came straight here," Ming  told her in 
all seriousness but then he gave her a pointed look before taking  Zachan 
from Lilin.  "Pay no attention to Aunt Anna's mouth, Zachan.   She's just  
upset."
 
"And I was getting stir crazy," Vilya added.  "Please don't take  Lilin to 
task for this either.  It isn't her fault."

Lilin gave Anna  a sweet smile then she winked and headed off to start 
finding work to do so Anna  wouldn't complain too much.

"Humph," Anna said.  "I'll talk to her  later."  Eyeing the tiny child, her 
mind went back to her conversation with  the Marine.  "Sorry for swearing."  
With a shrug, she added, "You'll  get just as stir crazy in here, it's not 
exactly the most buzzing place in the  universe." 
 

"Let me help then," Ming  said.  "I can take off the jacket and roll up the 
sleeves then wash  anything out later."  He saw his father-in-law talking to an 
injured man  over in the corner and grinned.  "But first we're visiting 
Grandpa.   Excuse us...this is a guys only  gathering."
 
"That child is going to be so  spoiled..." Vilya said fondly as she watched 
him make his way across to  Nalas.

"Can I ask you something?" Anna said quietly. 
 

"Of course!  Anything."  Vilya meant that, too.  Beyond  being her physician, 
she loved the other woman as a friend.  "What's the  matter?"

"In my office."  It came out gruff but Anna blushed as she  led them through. 
 She moved over to her desk, pulling herself up on top  and folding her legs 
under her.  "How do you love your child?" 
 

Vilya took a seat in the guest  chair and looked up at her.  "From the minute 
I knew he existed and without  question," she said without any hesitation.  
Her warm brown eyes showed her  concern.  "Did you find out something about 
that virus?  Is he  alright?"

Anna smiled as best she could.  "Your baby is fine, the  virus won't affect 
him at all." 
 

She would have kissed him then if she'd been holding him but he was safe  
with his father and grandfather.  Even in the midst of the bloody mess  
outside, 
he was safe.  She let out a breath she didn't realize she was  still holding.  
"Thank the Prophets," she murmured.  She didn't  question how Anna knew it.  
She supposed she'd scanned Zachan before she  dashed back to Sick Bay.  "You 
scared me, Anna.  I thought you were  going to say something horrible."

Shrugging, Anna's eyes lost their cheer  again.  "Horrible but not for you."  
Sliding a little further onto her  desk, she pulled her knees up under her 
chin and hugged her legs.  "How can  you be so happy with a child?  How do you 
not worry every moment that  they'll get hurt or ill or something will happen 
to them?  How did you walk  around, still doing your job but knowing that 
inside you were carrying a tiny  child and that even the slightest knock could 
cause a miscarriage and you'd lose  them?" 
 

"I worried, Anna.  Believe  me, I worried, especially when I thought about 
when I realized I was carrying  him.  You have no idea how many times I wanted 
to call my mother and ask  her how she and Daddy even thought about having me 
and Findel while the  Cardassians were on Bajor so I asked Daddy instead.  He 
said that if I  thought only about what bad might happen then I'd miss the joy. 
 He was  lost to us for so many years but he said that, while he was in 
Hutet, that one  of the things that kept him going was the thought of little 
four-year-old me  being happy with a carved wooden doll," she replied, her eyes 
misting at the  thought.  "And between your husband and Josh, I may as have 
been 
encased in  glass.  They wouldn't let me do anything more strenuous than 
lifting a  PADD."

In a tiny voice, Anna said, "I don't have that luxury." 
 

"Well, I'm sure..."  As she spoke, it dawned on Vilya what Anna was  saying.  
She sprang up from her chair and reached to hug the other  woman.  "Oh, Anna! 
 How wonderful!  I know you and Mac will be  very happy.  Our Zachan will 
have a cousin!"

Stiffening at the  embrace, Anna cringed.  "No, not one... more like... 
five." 
 

Vilya blinked in surprise.   One didn't see that on Bajor very often.  She 
couldn't recall ever seeing  quintuplets at all but she'd heard about it.  
"Oh...my..."  One's  first could be overwhelming but five as a first?  "But 
that 
means you will  be four times more blessed.  Believe me, it's a blessing."

"And I'm  their curse."  Anna shook her head, her eyes gaining a bit more  
focus.  "At least I know for a fact they'll grow up to be healthy and  safe." 
 

"You're no curse, Anna.  Everyone will make mistakes," Vilya began,  seeking 
to comfort as she kept her arm around the other woman. She  smiled crookedly 
at the latter part, though.  "I know Zachan will be fine,  too, because I want 
him to be."

Smirking, Anna leaned her head on Vilya's  shoulder.  "No, I know for a fact 
that they'll be fine.  I just had a  very interesting conversation with a 
Captain Maluhia from a ship from the  future, he knows my children and Zachan 
as 
well." 
 

Vilya took a step back then  settled her hands on Anna's shoulders, peering 
at her very closely.  "A  ship from the future?  What ship are you talking 
about?  I thought  those were Maquis that came aboard."

"Fuck knows.  He implied they  were 'Fleet but he was a Marine.  His uniform 
certainly wasn't anything  like ours but I really don't know."  Anna shrugged. 
 

Vilya sat on the edge of the desk next to her, shaking her head.   "Maluhia?  
I know that name.  Ming says that's the name of one of the  bigger families 
in the community his brother serves.  He says they're  lovely people.  There 
aren't any in the Fleet, Anna, except one by  marriage and she's part 
Vulcan..." 
Her words dried up.  "Knows them?   Do you think he was snowing you?"

Anna blinked.  Snowing?  "Oh bullshitting.  I don't know.  Why  would he do 
that?  He said his name was... Analu?  Something like  that, anyway.  He might 
have been, I guess.  He just didn't strike me  as if he was lying." 
 

After Ming's brother Daniel had  married them, he stayed with them, happily 
telling her all about the new posting  he had and the people in the community.  
She could see him sitting in the  living room of her apartment, holding up 
his hands as he tried to name all the  children in a family as big as his own.  
'There's the eldest, Analu,  though they call him Andy; then there's his 
brother,  Tommy...
  
"Oh sweet Prophets...Anna, I  don't think he is lying.  That's the name of 
one of the boys from  that family..."

A relieved smile flooded Anna's face.  "That means  they're safe, all of 
them."  She felt herself sag.  "Thank God, thank  the Lord God."  Running a 
hand 
over her eyes, Anna placed the other over  her stomach.  "If they're all 'Fleet 
officers, I can't have screwed them up  too bad, could I?" 
 

"Are we supposed to even know any of this?  Doesn't this play havoc  with the 
time line?" Vilya mused.  "I wonder what my baby looks like.   How old he 
is...what he does..."

"Science," Anna said  automatically.  "And no, we're not meant to know but 
you know what?  I  don't care.  I needed to know, I think I'll always need to 
know.  At  least now, even when I want to murder them in their beds, I'll know 
they turn  out alright.  I just hope..." she flinched, "we don't have any  
more." 
 

Vilya chuckled .  "A  scientist?  Hard to believe that tiny little thing will 
be a grown man one  day."  She shuddered slightly.  "That might make me a  
grandmother.  I can't think of that yet.  Why wouldn't you want  more?"

Anna gaped at her friend.  "Five, Vilya, five.  I think that's more than 
enough  for one lifetime, don't you?" 
 

"Ming is one of six at and that was one at a time no less," Vilya said  with 
a grin.  "Think how cute it could be.  They'll all be about the  same age.  
They could grow up together.  All Mac would need is for  Josh to have one."

"JD," Anna said, a shadow in her eyes.  "The  Marine said that Josh didn't 
come back from this mission, he said that Annabelle  put the embryo she's 
already carrying in stasis and had him later."  It  felt like a dream to repeat 
it 
back, not real at all.  "I think...   Fuck... it's a stab in the dark, but I 
think they've got him on their  ship." 
 

"Not come back?!  He has  to!  For Annabelle, for Mac...for all of us," Vilya 
exclaimed, her eyes  almost filling with tears at the thought.  "You think 
they have hostage  there?  They're Fleet, aren't they?  They wouldn't do that 
to 
one of  their own."

"I don't know but frankly I don't care.  If there's even  the slightest 
chance that they've got him, I'm going over  there to get him  back."  Anna's 
eyes 
blazed as she climbed off the desk.  "I need to  find Mac and Annabelle.  I 
will not allow this to happen." 
 

"Can you ask that Marine?  Maybe he'll tell you?" Vilya  asked.

"I, er, was kinda rude before I shut the link off, I don't think  he'd really 
answer my questions anymore.  Plus all external communications  are down.  I 
don't even know how he managed to get a comm through to  me.  He thought," at 
this Anna grinned again, "that I was my  daughter.  He has a soft spot for 
Victoria I think."  Then her  expression darkened again.  "He said that he 
couldn't tell me anything  about Josh, that he wasn't privy to that 
information.  
But... maybe if we  got a link through, we could find someone who is." 
 

"Who would we even ask?" Vilya  wondered.

"JM."  A tiny smile curved Anna's lips.  "The Marine  said that one of my 
children, JM, is a security officer.  Maybe we could  try contacting him." 
 
"Then that's what we'll do.  There's no way I am letting Josh go  without a 
fight.  My son needs all his uncles, not just the ones he was  born to.  
Alright...how do we do this...."

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