<USS Avalon> "Family Again"

"Family Again"
Cmdr Skyler, Sr. Lt. Melanie Redgrave, Jr. Lt. Georgia  Lewis 
 
The restaurant was small but everything Melanie had read had said that it  
was the best one on the station, so she'd made a reservation and sent messages  
to Skyler and Georgia telling them where and went to meet her. She'd been  
worried that she was going to be late because she'd spent the afternoon with  
Elijah, but he made sure she was able to get ready and out the door on time. He 
 
didn't even mind having to have dinner alone because he knew how important it  
was to her to connect with her family. Melanie sat at a table looking over 
the  wine list as she waited for her sister and their Georgia to show up. 
 

It had been a strange evening and morning for Skyler. She had never, as  far 
as she could remember, spent an evening with her sister that led to them  
spending the night continuing their talking. It actually felt nice but would  
still take some getting used to. After Melanie had left, Skyler thought about  
the 
events of the previous evening and wondered if she and Melanie could become  
as close as they apparently had been at one time? It would be nice to have a  
biological family member around, even if it would take some getting used to. 
She  was sitting on the couch when her door chime went off and before she had a 
 chance to even say "enter" in walked Georgia.
 
"Ms. Skyler, whys isn't yous ready? Wes gonna be late for our dinner with  
Ms. Melanie. Now hurry on and git yourself ready afore I has to do it for you." 
 
"Calm down Georgia, we have time and I will be ready. You are acting like  
you are going to try and beat Eliza Mae with a Pecan pie or something. Just let 
 
me go change and we can go." Skyler went into her bedroom and changed into 
her  uniform and was soon back in the main room with Georgia, who was pacing 
back and  forth. "Woman you are going to wear a hole in the carpet if you don't 
stop  pacing. Now you said we had to hurry so lets go already. If we are late 
it will  be your fault not mine." Skyler laughed as they walked out of her 
quarters and  to the nearest transporter that would beam them to the station. 
Once 
on the  station they located the restaurant that Melanie had chosen and 
proceeded over  to meet her. Skyler was still curious about this Eli person. 
"So 
Georgia, who is  Eli?"
 
Georgia looked at Skyler and just grinned her wicked grin. "Why Ms. Skyler  I 
know nutin bout no Eli?" Skyler knew better than to pursue the question, she  
wasn't going to get anywhere with Georgia, she would have to wait for Melanie 
to  spill the beans.
 
Skyler spotted her first and pointed her out. "There she is, see I told you  
we would be just fine." Walking up to the table Skyler spoke in her head just 
to  see what kind of reaction she would get. ~Been waiting long or are you  
saving these seats for royalty?~
 
Melanie jumped at the sudden sound of her sister's voice in her head.  
Placing her glass of wine down on the table she looked up at the women standing 
 
there. "I'm not sure I'll ever get use to that." She smiled as the two women  
slipped into their seats and then laughed as she shook her head at Skyler. "If  
I'd known we were wearing uniforms I'd have worn mine." 
 
"That's okay considering my choices were a uniform or a pair of dirty  
sweats. I am not exactly what you would call a clothes horse or one for 
fashion.  I 
will leave that up to you and Georgia. You both look stunning tonight, and  
don't let it go to your head ole woman. Next thing you know you will be  
expecting me to start dressing up and you of all people should know  better."
 
"Yes'm that be the truth all rights. Coulda barely git this child outa  
scruffy clothes jest for her schoolin, and talk about tryin to git her to dress 
 
proper for church, oh my lord. Youda thunk we was killin her or sumthin."  
Georgia just chuckled at her last comment knowing that she had gotten one over  
on 
Skyler.
 
"Well we'll have to fix that now won't we Georgia." Melanie replied with a  
smile as she pour wine for them both. "I know of this wonderful boutique in  
Berlin that would be perfect. Oh and this little shop in London with the most  
darling dresses, and a shop in Edinburgh where I got the wool sweater I had on  
last night." Melanie nodded her head, smiled, and tried not to laugh at the 
look  of pure horror on Skyler's face. "Yes, we'll have to do some shopping 
when we  get back to Earth." Shopping with Elissabeth, and then more shopping 
with  Georgia and Skyler, and taking Elijah to her mother's summer place in 
Whales..  Melanie couldn't wait to get back to Earth, it was going to be bliss. 
 
You may be my sister but if I am not mistaken I am the older one and you  are 
not putting this body in no dress so you can just get that out of your  
plotting little mind. Skyler sorta just glared at Melanie and kicked her under  
the 
table and then she looked at Georgia with looks that could kill. "There is  
absolutely nothing wrong with my wardrobe and if the two of you want to go  
shopping then you go right ahead, I will be in the weapons area or some other  
such place. I don't do darling dresses." Skyler took a drink of her wine trying 
 
not to guzzle it. 
 
"Now Ms. Skyler yous is old enough now to be able to wears the right  
clothes. 'Sides it will be fun."
 
Skyler just shook her head and started to read the menu.
 
Picking up her own menu, Melanie returned the kick under the table, making  
sure not to kick to hard since she had heels on. "It's ok Georgia, we can 
always  get her some things ourselves." 
 
Skyler looked at the two of them plotting and thought that perhaps she  stood 
a better chance with Eliza Mae on her side, or even a freshly skinned  skunk. 
"So little sister, where did you run off to so early this morning?"
 
Melanie avoided Skyler's question by placing her order with the waiter,  
which Georgia and Skyler followed suit with. After the young man was gone she  
played with her wine glass. "I needed to check in at the office and then I went 
 
to see Elijah." 
 
Georgia was grinning from ear to ear and just about ready to bust. She  
wanted to say something so bad but wanted Melanie to tell Skyler. 
 
"Hmm, check in with the office while we are tethered to the station, not  
much going on I'm sure. Then you went to see Elijah. Eli, Elijah, they wouldn't 
 
happen to be one and the same person now would they?"
 
"Wow, Skyler you should have gone into Security with those powers of  
deduction." Melanie teased. A small but bright smile played at the corner of  
Melanie 
lips with the mere thought of Elijah, which made her feel like a silly  
school girl, which she had to admit to herself she liked. "Elijah Dareth. We've 
 
been seeing each other for quite a while now." 
 
Skyler looked at Melanie for a moment. "So that explains it."
 
Melanie looked pointed at her sister. "Explains what?" 
 
"Oh just some comment my yeoman made in passing about seeing a young man  
leaving your quarters one morning." Skyler grinned a wicked grin.
 
"What your yeoman said?" Melanie blinked as she folded her arms across her  
chest. "Having me watched?" 
 
"Oh put your blimey britches back in place. I wasn't having anyone watched.  
I simply had given her a list of people who were to have access to me at 
anytime  and when I mentioned your name she said something about seeing a young 
man 
 leaving your quarters. Gee, got something to hide or what?" Skyler just  
grinned.
 
"Blimey? I'm English not Irish." Melanie huffed and kicked her sister under  
the table again. "I'm not hiding anything. It isn't a secret that Elijah and I 
 have been seeing one another. The details of our relationship however are no 
 ones business but our own. Elijah has been nothing but a real gentleman 
towards  me. You can even ask Georgia and Eliza Mae, they've meet him, and 
Georgia's  grilled him." 
 
"Well excuse me, put your Bloody Britches back in place. I am not going to  
ask you about the details of your relationship, even though I spent last night  
defending myself to you. Just as I expect you to respect any relationship I 
may  or may not be involved in. As long as you are happy that is all that 
matters to  me. If Georgia and Eliza Mae approve then I am sure that he is just 
fine. I did  not come here to fight with you again, I came to have a nice 
dinner. 
One other  thing I find I must correct, you may think you are English but you 
are also  Betazoid and never forget it. It is a part of the two of us and 
what binds us  together."
 
Melanie looked at her sister carefully, trying to see if it was the may or  
may not that was true about her being with someone.  "I'm not fighting with  
you, Skyler. Besides you kicked me first." Melanie smiled her best little girl  
simple before becoming serious again. " I was simply making a point." Melanie  
paused while the waiter set out their food and replaced their wine with one 
that  went better with their meals. She continued once he'd left. "I've been 
English  for as long as I can remember. It's more then just having the accent 
and  consuming freakish amounts of tea. It's how I was raised, it's who I am. I 
don't  know how to be anything else, but that doesn't mean I'm turning my back 
on being  Betazoid."
 
Georgia looked at the two women and just smiled from ear to ear. "Nows this  
tis hows Is 'member it. Onea ya was always tryin to out do da other. Jest like 
 sisters. It does my heart good to see yous two together. Ms. Celeste woulda 
been  so proud a her girls." Georgia paused for a moment to catch her breath. 
"The  only thing a missing is that dang bear." 
 
Skyler shook her head no. "I don't ever want to be hit with that bear  
again." Looking at Melanie, "You got away with everything because you would cry 
 and 
whine and then hit me with that stupid bear and make everyone think I had  
done something. Now if you give me a chance I will help you to explore the  
Betazoid part of your being. I'm not telling you to deny being English, but you 
 
can't deny what is in your genetics either." Skyler took a sip of wine and just 
 let her thoughts wander for a bit.
 
Melanie laughed. "I was a year old! I can't be held accountable for things  I 
did when I was a year old!?' Then she was quite for a moment. "I just said I  
wasn't denying the part of me that came from our parents." Turning to Georgia 
 Melanie huffed. "And she says no one listens to what she says!" Turning back 
to  Skyler she nodded. "I'd like to learn about what we are."  
 
âWelst, Ms. Melanie yous is most certainly not a huffer, and she was  hearing 
ya, Ms. Skyler ain't the mostest easy person to talk to ifn you hadn't  
figured that by now." Georgia took a sip of her wine and just let the two girls 
 
talk.
 
Skyler looked over at Georgia and just stared and then winked at her. "So  
tell me about your parents." Skyler was fiddling around with the food on her  
plate hoping to avoid another question and answer session.
 
"My father worked for the Bank of England. One of the few remaining fiscal  
institutions still in operation on Earth." There was a deep sadness in 
Melanie's  brown eyes as she talked of Luis Redgrave. She like most little 
girls 
adored her  father. "My Mum's a lingering member of the English high society 
with a 
title  and the whole bit, but sheâs really an artist. She even owns and runs 
an art  galley in London.â
 
Skyler could see the sadness in Melanie's eyes when she spoke of her  father, 
it had been so long since she had even thought of her parents that at  times 
she felt like Georgia and Henry were her parents.  ~~Maybe you  will get used 
to me being inside your head. We will be able to talk to each  other this way 
and no one will no what we are saying. It is one aspect of our  parents that 
you have inherited. You have also most likely inherited the ability  to sense 
others feelings and emotions or  the ability to sense when there  is something 
wrong with me.~~
 
"I can already sense when something is wrong with you." Melanie replied as  
she pushed away the lingering sense of mourning she still felt for her father.  
"It's how I knew to come looking for you. You weren't as strong up here." She 
 tapped the side of her head. 
 
"Can you sense it in others or do you try not to? It is hard at times not  to 
feel or sense things that you aren't supposed to. However some times it just  
leaks into your head." Georgia knew all about that. How many times did Skyler 
 know she was in trouble or that Georgia needed her. Even after all these 
years  she still wasn't used to it. "I do have one question for you. Why was it 
so  important after all these years for you to come and find me?"
 
Melanie was still for a few moments. "I use to feel it from others but it  
scared me so I pushed it away." She admitted. "Now it's my Mum, you, Georgia,  
Eli." Melanie left out the part about maybe Elissabeth. She wasn't sure if  
telling Skyler she was getting closer to someone she'd been close to but had  
drifted away from was a good idea. "I told you last night that even though I 
had  
a good life with my parents I still felt as if something was missing in my 
life.  I just didn't know what it was until I found out I'd been adopted." 
 
Melanie waited until the waiters cleared the table, allowing a comfortable  
stillness to fall over the table. After dessert was served, and the wine once  
again changed, and the coffee poured, she asked. "What about you Skyler. What  
was it like growing up after..." She left the rest of her words linger 
between  them. 
 
Skyler knew what she was going to say before Melanie had even ended  the 
question. "Growing up without our parents? It was difficult because I not  only 
lost them I lost you, I lost my entire blood family. Georgia is the closet  
thing to family that I can remember. If it weren't for her and Henry I don't  
know 
what I would have done." She looked over at Georgia and put her hand on the  
older woman's arm. "You and I grew up in very different backgrounds. While you 
 had the high society of England, I had the backwoods of Mississippi and 
Georgia,  and we can't forget Eliza Mae." 
 
"Oh child, why you have to mess it all up wit that old bitty''s  name?"
 
Melanie laughed at Georgia's comment. She couldn't wait to get back so she  
could watch the two old woman interact. They were a sight indeed. "Tell me what 
 my sister was like as a kid, Georgia?" 
 
Skyler glared at Georgia as if to say Don't you dare? 
 
"Well, Ms. Melanie, for the most part she was a good child. She was always  a 
followin Henry round the hills when he was checkin on his patients. Never  
could get her in no dress, not for nutin in the world. I could most always find 
 
her layin on the grass staring at them lights  in the sky, or worlds as she  
calls 'em. Said someday she was a gonna go to one a them worlds, an lordy ifn  
she didnt drag me alongst wit her."
 
For a moment Melanie wondered what it would have been like to live that  way. 
They only time she'd been allowed to get dirty and play out in the open  
fields was when she was visiting her Uncle's estate. "Is Henry and Celeste why  
you became a doctor?" She asked her sister. It was really starting to get 
easier 
 to think of Skyler as her sister and she really liked that. 
 
"I suppose it was. I liked watching Henry and the way he cared for the  
people he took care of. He was a true country doc, if someone didn't have the  
money to pay, he would take something in trade for his services. I can remember 
 
the time we had a whole house full of chickens. There must've been a run on 
them  that week because that's all anyone paid him with."
 
Georgia started to chuckle at the memory. "Oh Lordy, that was the terriblst  
week of my life. Is never plucked so many chicks in my life. We ate good for a 
 few weeks though. Wes also had us a mess of eggs to."
 
"The only living animal we ever had in our house was Patches and his mother  
before him." Melanie told them with awe and amusement in her voice. "Where did 
 we live?" 
 
"You certainly have led a sheltered life or maybe I have, because I have no  
idea what a Patches is?"
 
Melanie laughed. "Patches is our Brittany Spaniel." She then pointed her  
wine glass, which was still pretty full since she'd been sipping at her drinks  
all night, favoring her water glass a little more then the wine, at Skyler. 
"You  didn't answer my question. Where did we live when we were a family?" 
 
"That depends on what time frame you are talking about? Most of the time we  
were on Earth, but there were times when we were living on space stations or  
star ships." Thinking to herself Skyler hoped that was a satisfactory answer  
because it was still hard to accept that her mother had died on a space  
station.
 
"I want to see where you grew up with Georgia, and I want to see our home  on 
Earth, and I want to go to Betazed." Melanie told them.
 
"You don't want much do you? You've already been to Eliza Mae's so you  
pretty much have seen where I grew up with Georgia. I don't even know if our  
home 
on earth is still there, but I am sure we can arrange a trip to Betazed.  How 
does your mother feel about me?"
 
Again Melanie waited until the waiter had cleaned the table off, leaving  
only their coffee cups. "My wanting to find out about my birth family scared 
her  
at first, but she understood why I needed to do, and she knows that even 
though  I know about Celeste, she's still my mother." 
 
Skyler didn't say anything for sometime. She knew that the woman who raised  
Melanie was the only mother she remembered, yet it still stung to hear her say 
 the words. To say that she knew about Celeste but that this other woman was 
her  mother. She took a long drink of her water not wanting to say anything 
that  would hurt Melanie. 
 
Instead she looked over at Georgia. "Skyler honey, s'okay to feels that  way. 
Ain't nobody's fault, specially not yours or Ms. Melanie's." Georgia put  her 
arm around Skyler's shoulder and pulled her close for a moment. It was just  
like she did when Skyler was just a child.
 
It took Melanie a moment to realize what she had done. "I'm sorry. I didn't  
mean to make it sound like Celeste isn't apart of my life now. She is. She's 
my  mother as well." 
 
Skyler looked at Melanie, seeing Celeste in her eyes, "You don't have to  
apologize. Celeste may have been your biological mother but the woman in 
England  
gave you your values and made you who you are today. I would have to say she 
'  did an excellent job. I am glad that things turned out so well for you." 
Taking  another sip of water Skyler held back the tear she felt forming in her  
eyes.
 
For a moment Melanie wished she could say that she wished that it had all  be 
different, but she didn't. She wouldn't trade in the life she'd lived, the  
life it lead her to, for anything. "You know we should make this dinner a  
regular thing."
 
"I think I would like that and I promise not to try anymore stunts in the  
holodeck at least for a while." She gave Melanie a wicked grin.
 
"Glad to hear it." Melanie replied as she stood up and headed out with  
Skyler and Georgia. "I'd hate to replace all the advisories in your programs  
with 
teddy bears."

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