<USS Avalon> "What's In A Name" Part 1

"What's In A Name" Part 1
Skyler and Tavi
 
Skyler woke before Tery did. She looked at her laying  there half covered 
with the sheet sleeping so peacefully. She couldn't believe  how happy she 
felt. 
She leaned over and gently kissed her then covered her up.  Throwing on her 
sweats, Skyler got up to fix breakfast. She peeked in on Tavi  who was still 
sleeping. She had a warm feeling welling up inside. She finally  had the family 
she wanted. Now if it would last. Walking over to the replicator  she made 
herself a glass of juice and punched in the order for breakfast. Eggs, bacon, 
toast, juice and  of course milk. She didn't want to wake anyone up just yet 
but 
rather wanted to  enjoy the moment. She couldn't recall a time when she felt 
like this. Not ever. 


Tavi woke as the door slid shut and knew Skyler had been checking on  her.  
She didn't mind.  But she also didn't want Skyler to know she  still slept so 
lightly most of the time.  Her bed was warm and comfortable,  so she rolled 
over and snuggled into the blanket for a while before thinking  about getting 
up. 
 Eventually, though, the need to empty her bladder  overcame her desire to 
stay in bed, so she got up and went to do what she had to  do.  After that, she 
put her warm fuzzy robe on over her pajamas and padded  barefoot out into the 
main room.   


Hearing patter of feet from behind her Skyler knew Tavi was  up.  "Just were 
are you slippers? You can't go around walking barefoot ya  know. Besides you 
might catch a cold. You put your fuzzy robe on but no  slippers. What am I 
going to do with you? So how come I get the pleasure of you  company so early 
in 
the morning? I didn't wake you did I?"  


Tavi shrugged and rolled her eyes.  The floor wasn't  cold.  But she couldn't 
lie when Skyler asked a direct question.  "The  door kind of woke me up," she 
admitted.  


"I will try and be more quiet the next time I check on you. Since  you are 
up, care to join me in a glass of juice?" Skyler wondered if it was the  door 
or 
something else that really woke her up. 



"Sure."  Tavi took her usual chair and curled her legs under  her.  "Who 
spent the night?" she asked curiously.  She thought someone  was still in 
Skyler's 
bedroom.  The door was closed.  Maybe it was the  person Skyler wanted to 
have in their family.   


Getting a glass of juice for Tavi, Skyler almost dropped it at the  question. 
"Just what makes you think someone spend the night?" She placed the  juice in 
front of Tavi and took her own seat.  

"Straight to the point, huh?"  For some reason  Skyler was nervous at 
answering the question even though she knew she shouldn't  be.


"Your door is closed," the girl pointed out.  "And you  replicated more food 
than the two of us can eat."  She didn't mention that  she had a funny prickly 
feeling between her shoulder blades, the same feeling  she used to have when 
she was hiding and someone nearby might discover  her.   


"OK you got me. Yes, someone did spend the night. Remember I told  you about 
Tery? Well, she is the one who spent the night and yes she is still  asleep. 
Does that bother you? And be honest. Don't say what you think I want to  hear. 
I want to hear the truth." Or do I?  


Tavi shrugged again.  "I think it bothers you more than it  bothers me," she 
observed, holding her glass of juice between her hands.   "I only get bothered 
because you get all upset when I ask about things.  I  don't want to get you 
upset but I don't understand what I'm doing wrong when I  just ask a 
question," she finished plaintively.   


Skyler looked at Tavi for a moment thinking to herself. "I don't get  upset 
when you as about things. You are not doing anything wrong when you ask  
questions. This is all new to me and it is going to take awhile for me to get 
it  
right.  I just want you to feel like you belong here. Maybe I am trying to  
hard. You tell me what I should do?  Maybe it does bother me more than it  
bothers 
you, but that is only because I care a great deal about you and don't  want 
to do anything that is going to hurt you. You have been through enough in your 
short little life."  

Tavi just shrugged  and drank some of her juice before answering.  "You said 
you want to know  what I think So I tell you what I think.  And now I think 
you are teasing  me about being too big for my britches."  She grinned briefly. 
 
"If  neither of us had a family before, then can't we just make it up as we 
go?   And then it will work for us and it doesn't matter if it's right for 
anyone  else.  It only has to be right for OUR family."  


"Yeah, maybe I am teasing you a little about being too big for your  
britches. But you are one smart kid. I think that making up our family as we go 
 is a 
great idea. It will be just for us and no one else. Now here is a slight  
problem. Neither of us has a last name. What should we do about it? We need a  
Family name. Got any idea's?" Looking at the closed door Skyler wondered if 
Tery  
was going to join them or if she was just waiting until they were alone.  


"Why don't you have a family name?" Tavi wanted to know.   "Don't you know 
who your parents were?  Or did they come from a place where  people don't have 
last names?"  She knew there were some places like that,  but most of them had 
some way to tell families apart.

Smiling Skyler looked at Tavi. "I know my  father's name was Maddox and he 
was human. My mother was Betazoid and her name  was Celeste. I don't recall a 
last name. I've just always been called Skyler. My  sister has a last name that 
she got when she was adopted. Her name is Melanie  Redgrave." Thinking about 
Mel brought a few tears to Skyler's eyes. She kept  thinking of everyone she 
had lost. Her sister. Her niece. Maybe she wasn't meant  to have a family.  


"You said  Ms. Georgia raised you," said Tavi after a long pause.  "But she 
didn't  give you her family name, huh?"  


"Nope, she and Henry just called me Skyler. I think that maybe they  didn't 
want to make me forget my Mom and dad. I just called them Georgia and  Henry. 
They didn't have any kids of their own. Maybe someday I will have to ask  
Georgia about that. She should be coming back to the ship soon."  


"Well," Tavi finished her juice.  "I don't know.  Maybe I  can look it up in 
the library and find something good for our family  there."

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