[USS Tempest] Kismet

  • From: "Miranda A. Craig" <mirandacraig@xxxxxxx>
  • To: usstempest@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:27:02 -0500

"Kismet"
Anna Jameson, Josie Cooper, N'Ellie Coyne

It was silly really, to be wearing glasses even if they were just reading glasses, in this day and age but Josie liked her glasses. The world, in her option, had to many perfect people and not enough uniqueness. Which is why she didn’t even notice the odd looks she was getting from the other customers in DS9’s only real book bookstore. She’d been here at least five times already and had bought several books each time, but she couldn’t help it. She was rather found of real paper books, and she didn’t care how much Jackie teased her over it. There really was nothing like curling up with a cup of tea or cocoa and a book. Poor Jackie just didn’t get it.

She ached, dear god but Anna still ached all over.  She'd been out of sick bay a few days, but the little ones were still in.  Why she was even here was beyond her, but she'd been told to go out, get air and stop bugging N'Ellie. For some reason, she just didn't want to be around Mac either, like he was just a kid and she'd grown past wanting to be with someone that immature but she didn't have the heart to tell him that.

Instead of just going back to her cabin and trying to sleep, she'd gone down to the station and now she was wandering around a bookstore, her eyes unseeing as she debated calling Sick Bay to see if her babies were okay.

With several books tucked under her arm, Josie headed for yet another section as she read the back cover of the newest Romulan based romance novel. It wasn’t really her preferred style, but maybe Jackie would like it. Lord knew if they were docked any longer they’d both go out of their minds. The need to get in their fighter was really starting to tug hard at them, and if they didn’t get a chance soon things could get ugly. Between her thoughts about getting back to work and the book, Josie didn’t notice the pretty little redhead until she bumped into her. “Oh,” She squeaked. “I’m so sorry.”

Anna's hand had been almost to her comm-badge when someone walked right into her.  With a blink, she half-smiled and said, "No worries.  No harm."

Josie stumbled back a little, both form the shock of nearly knocking the woman over and from the striking color of her eyes. They were like stormy gray rain clouds and she’d never seen eyes that color before. “I should have been paying more attention.”

"Me too," Anna said with a grin.  "My head's all over the place right now."  She knew it was part of the post natal experience but she was still panicked about her babies.

“Mine’s just rotting from boredom.” The dark haired navigator replied with a sheepish smile of her own. “I think they’ve forgotten my ship’s still in dock.”

"Sounds like mine too," Anna snorted.  Staring into the stranger's eyes, she almost forgot to be so afraid for a moment as she found herself smiling genuinely.  "We've been here so long, I'm thinking of getting an apartment."

Josie laughed softly as she took her glasses off and placed them on top of her stack of books. “You must be on the Georgetown then, it’s been here the whole time we have.”

"Guilty as charged," Anna smirked.  "I'm one of the Doctors on there.  It's not so bad, a good first assignment and comfy enough.  You're Tempest, right?"

Josie nodded. She couldn’t believe she was standing there talking so easily to someone she’d just met by bumping into them. How cliché was that? Jackie, if she bothered to tell her, would laugh her ass off at her. She was after all the uptight straight man to Jackie’s dumb blonde. “Flight Ops, I’m a navigator.” Extending her hand she offered the redhead a warmer smile. “Josephine Cooper, but my pilot’s dubbed me Josie and it’s kinda stuck.”

"Sussanna Jameson, but most've everyone calls me Anna," she said as she accepted the hand and shook it firmly.

Clearly at some point in time she’d hit her head rather violently, because without debating it with herself first she was asking, “I don’t normally do this, but these are getting heavy and you look like you could use caffeine in some form, so would you like to grab a coffee or something?”

"That sounds pretty good," Anna said with a bright grin just as she wondered what she was doing.  Surely she should be getting back to GT and her babies.  Maybe she could just call N'Ellie and make sure they were okay...

That made the dark haired woman smile. “Great!” She replied while pushing the annoying blonde voice in her head away as it told her not to come on so easy. “I need to grab the copy of Kipper I ordered for my sister’s kid, but it should be at the counter. Then we can head over to anyplace but the troll’s. He creeps me out.”

"That's cool, I just gotta call the ship, just need to check on my... um... on something," Anna said with a light blush.  She wondered for a moment why she'd been embarrassed about her babies, her beautiful little ones, but put it down to meeting someone her age who clearly didn't have kids of her own.

Josie gave Anna another warm smile before heading towards the front of the store. What on Earth was she doing? She had no clue, but she didn’t mind it so much. There’d just been something so warm in those storm cloud colored eyes.

It wasn’t a normal part of a starship’s sickbay but given the number of new and pending mothers, N’Ellie had had one of the labs converted into a nursery, which was probably as full as it would ever be at the moment. When her comm badge chirped she looked at the clock and smirked. “Well, you held out longer then I’d excepted.” She called out before even giving the caller a chance to say a word. “They’re stable and fine, Anna.”

"I just... y'know... needed to check," Anna sniffed in mild amusement.  "How's my lil Vixie?  Has the Field Marshall had a chance to see her yet?"

N’Ellie looked over at the smallest of the five and smiled. “She’s sleeping at the moment, they all are, and the General will be down this afternoon. I’ve sent her all our medical scans and she’s reviewing them now.”

Anna let out the breath she'd been holding and almost slumped.  "Good... good...  You'll call me if anything changes, right?  Or if something comes up?  Or..."

“Anna,” N’Ellie said firmly and yet with a chuckle in her voice. “Take a few moments to breath and relax, cause once you get these five home, Anna time will be harder to come by. I’ll call, I promise, now stop bugging the pregnant Klingon.”

 "You'll find out how worrying this is in time," Anna said sagely before she chuckled.  "Then I'll just sit back and smirk at you.  And maybe start that mothers' and babies' class."

“That’s a great idea, but for now go do something non-child related.” N’Ellie laughed.

“Ready?” Josie asked as she came up behind the redheaded doctor. “I decided I’m starved, we could do lunch too.”

N’Ellie smirked on her end of the comm. “Yeah, Anna, go do lunch.”

"And go check again," Anna snorted as she cut the connection and turned to her new companion, or whatever one would call a pretty girl she'd bumped in to in a shop.  "I'm ready.  Kinda hungry too."

“Great,” Josie replied as she turned to head for the door. She walked easily at Anna’s said as they made their way along the promenade. “There’s a great Bajoran place on the next level, or a Klingon place down one, the replamat.”

"I've roomed with a Klingon for a while, I think Bajoran would be my preference," Anna smirked.  "Not that I mind gagh, it's the raktajino that I don't like."

Josie laughed as they headed up to the next level. “I’ve always been leery of Klingons on caffeine. I always figured it would be like a terrier on sugar, a good idea at the time but then a huge mistake when the rush kicks in.”

"She was cool most of the time, I just like it on my own now," Anna said with a small smile, her eyes glancing to her companion and noting how pretty she really was.

“I’ve forgotten what it’s like to live alone.” Josie replied with a wishful sigh. She loved Jackie, she really did, they were true best friends but living with the woman took a lot of patience. “From the time you enter flight school until you reach Lieutenant you live with your flight partner.”  She explained as the sat at one of the tables. “It’s meant to strengthen the team, I think they’re just too cheap to put in more single cabins.”

Anna dropped into a chair and grinned.  "I think you're right.  Probably the reason we're all stuffed into quads at med school.  I was so glad it was just me and N'Ellie when I got to the Georgetown."

“That would be the Klingon roommate?” Josie asked. Was she still smiling? When was the last time she’d smiled like this? For that matter how long had it been since she went ten minutes without groaning at that world around her? She wasn’t even paying attention to the morons around them, all she saw was the pretty redhead with the really pretty eyes. “Not sure which would be worse, that or Jackie.”

"N'Ellie's cool," Anna grinned and met the other woman's eyes, grinning right into them and wondering if the flicker in her stomach was really hunger or something else.  "She's my boss now.  Up until a week ago, it was two pregnant ladies in one department.  All the men running for cover."

That made Josie smile, which was rare. She’d gotten so use to being the straighten man, the serious one, she’d wondered if she’d forgotten how. The fact that this woman made it feel so easy and natural made her stomach flutter. “So one of your colleagues just had a baby? Must be kind of nice being on a family ship.”

"Um..."  Anna tilted her head to the side and kept the mask of the smile on her face as she said, "No, I did.  Five... quints."

Disappointment flashed in Josie’s eyes. The pretty little redheaded doctor was taken, figures. Then she blinked as it sunk in a little more. “Five? At once?” She blinked again and cringed. “Ouch. That must have been rough. Bet you really wanted to cut off your boyfriend’s.. um.. parts.. at one point.”

"c-section, so not as bad as it could've been," Anna said as she watched the disappointment cross the girl's face and wondered about it.  "And seriously?  I'd've cut Mac into a million tiny little pieces if he'd been there but apparently his best friend is more important than his kids.  He and I... Put it this way, I just talked to a lawyer about a restraining order to protect my kids."

“So you’re not involved with anyone?” Josie asked before her brain had time to shut her mouth. “I mean,” She blushed a little but managed to keep her eyes on the woman sitting across from her. “Things got that bad? That you’d need a restraining order?”

"I don't want him taking my kids away from me," Anna said as she blushed and started to smile.  Leaning over, she touched Josie's hand.  "I'm not involved, no."

Josie’s eyes lit up at that. She’d analyze all this later, but when it came to life she’d learned a long time ago that good things happen unexpectedly and sometimes really quickly. “So, if I like, asked you to dinner, ya know before our ships leave and when you have time, I mean with five babies and all, you wouldn’t like object?” Dear God I sound like Jackie, she thought with an internal moan.

"I like totally wouldn't," Anna teased, her eyes sparkling.

Josie blushed and covered her face as she moaned. “I really don’t sound like that normally, honest.”

"I can tell," Anna grinned, still brushing her fingers over Josie's other hand.  "You know someone who does though, right?"

“My pilot and oddly enough best friend.” Josie replied as she brushed her thumb against the other woman’s fingers. “We’re the ultimate odd couple. She’s California valley girl,” Or at least pretends to be, “and I’m a New Yorker born and breed.”

"And I'm from Australia, we just need a European and an African and we've almost got all the continents covered."  Anna found she really liked this woman, she was pretty but smart, she liked this conversation and how easily she'd taken to her being a mother.

“If you want an African I’d gladly hand over our chief pilot.” Josie laughed, dark eyes bright as the stayed glued to stormy gray ones. “Pim’s a bit much to handle. You should see her and Jackie go at it, it’s really rather funny.”

"Okay so just Europe and we're done," Anna said, her voice taking on a slight purr.  "You're really pretty, y'know."

The flush of Josie’s cheeks darkened as she lowered her head a moment, hiding the blush under a curtain of dark hair. When she looked up again she met those eyes. “So are you,” She said softly. “You have the most stunning eyes I’ve ever seen.”

"Pretty but dull and grey," Anna sniffed in amusement.

“No,” Josie said with a slight shake of her head. “They’re the same amazing grey color the sky turns just before a storm. I use to watch from our apartment window as the clouds rolled in, spend hours just watching it pour.” Enjoying the fact that she was no longer trying to find shelter from it, but safe and warm inside their apartment. “Do any of your children have your eyes? Or is it to soon to tell?”

"The girls," Anna said with the sweetest smile in the world, all for her children.  Then slowly a darkness flickered over her face and she sat back, her fingers itching to tap her comm-badge, call N'Ellie, just to check.  "They have the prettiest eyes in the world."

She wouldn’t have believed it, but those eyes just got brighter and even more beautiful. “What are their names?”

"Victoria, Moria and Patricia," Anna told her.  "And the boys are James and..." there was a slight pinch to her eyes as she said it, "Joshua."

Twisting her wrist just a little, Josie took hold of Anna’s hand. “Hey, you ok?”

"Yeah.  I just don't like the name at all," Anna snorted as she curled her fingers around Josie's.  "It was my one concession to Mac, he could name two.  He chose Patricia coz his own name's Patrick, and Joshua because his fucking best friend, the guy he'd rather be with when his kids are being born and all the times he was needed at all the prenatal checks, is called Josh."  Then she sniffed in cynical amusement.  "I've got baggage."

“We all do, Sussanna. Trust me.” Josie replied softly as she squeezed the other woman’s hand. Then she smiled softly, as if she were smiling simply for the woman across from her. “Could always call the little guy by his middle name or a nickname.”

A wicked look crossed Anna's face and she snickered a little.  "I did give him a middle name, actually.  He's Joshua Michael and my girl is Patricia Jean.  No way was I letting that son of a..." Anna grinned, the sparkle growing, "he wasn't getting the last say."

“Jean and Michael are good names.” Josie replied as smiled in return. There was such a brightness about this woman when she spoke of her children. “I bet they’re all beautiful.”

"They are..."  Anna got that darkness again, her finger itching for her comm-badge.  "They’re beautiful.  I never thought I'd love them this much."

Josie saw the shadow and frowned. “I’m so sorry, I’ve kept you from them for awhile now. You must be aching to get back.”

"Only to get under N'Ellie's feet," Anna sighed. She sat back, rubbing her face then pinching between her eyes, doing anything with her hands other than hitting her comm-badge.  "Josh... Michael and Victoria are in critical condition, the other three have responded to the treatments but aren't out of the woods yet.  I got sent out coz I was driving N'Ellie crazy."

“Because they were multiples?” She asked. She suddenly wished they weren’t sitting across from each other but beside each other so she could comfort her. “Must be hard, being a new mother and doctor and understanding so much more then if you weren’t a doctor.”

"It's like dying inside when I listen to N'Ellie and the Field Marshall talk about treatment.  And General Quon only just gave birth herself.  They need...  They think at least Vixie needs implants to live," Anna sighed.

Getting up from her chair and dropping a couple credits on the table Josie held out her hand to Anna. “Come on, you need to check on you babies.”

Anna took the hand, curling her fingers around Josie's, and stepping close before smiling carefully.  "Thanks.  I can introduce you if you like."

Josie smiled brightly, “It’ll give me a chance to ask if it’s alright if I take their mom out for a night.”

"I'm sure they won't mind," Anna confided with a wink.

As they headed for the air locks Josie was quite for a little while. She thought about all the hell her mom had gone through with her and there was only one of her. “You’re an amazing woman, Sussanna. Raising five children all on your own, you gotta be pretty strong to take that on.”

"Or pretty stupid," she shrugged as they headed back to GT.  "I just decided I wanted them, I didn't want to think about giving them up and I love them."

“Loving them, caring about them and for them the best you can, that’s what’ll make you a good mom.” The dark haired woman replied as a swirl of emotion darkened and then brightened her dark eyes.

Anna watched those emotions play over Josie's face and she frowned.  "Now it's my turn to ask.  You okay?"

Josie smiled at the concern in Anna’s voice. “Baggage.” She replied with a small chuckle. “Lets say I can sympathize with your babies when it comes to folks with other priorities.”

"And that's why I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure my kids know I'd do anything for them," Anna said firmly, giving Josie's hand a squeeze.

“You’re whole face lights up when you talk about them.” Josie pointed out with a soft laugh. “Makes you more beautiful. This Mac guy, he’s a real fool.”

"No shit," she snorted then she tugged on Josie's hand and leaned into her side.  "If I kiss you, d'you think you'd object any?"

Josie smiled as she leaned closer. “If I did I’d be the fool.”

Anna's lips brushed Josie's very lightly and they kissed.  It was soft, quick and very sweet, and as she drew back, Anna smiled shyly at Josie.  "You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

“You should see you through my eyes.” She said softly as she brushed Anna’s cheek. “Do you believe in serendipity, Sussanna?”

"I do now," Anna grinned, her heart fluttering in her chest.
Josie smiled as she leaned in and kissed Anna again. “Me too.”

"Come meet my babies?" Anna murmured against Josie's lips.

“Lead the way,” Josie said brightly as she looked around. “If you glow by just mentioning them, you must light up like the tree at Rockefeller Center when you’re with them.”

"Actually, right now, I just drive N'Ellie and the General crazy," Anna snorted.

Josie got a wicked smile as she followed Anna to a turbo lift and then to the ship’s sick bay. “Na, if you really wanted to drive them crazy, I’ll let you borrow Jackie.” She’s never going to believe me, Josie thought with a smirk. Damn if she hadn’t been right about this kind of thing happening like lightening.

"She really that bad?" Anna grinned, pulling Josie into the airlock quickly.

“No,” Josie replied with a found smile as she thought of her friend. “She just wants people to think she is. Though, I could do without the damn hairspray.”

"Use a lot does she?" Anna giggled.

Josie laughed. “Lets just say she’d be able to take out a gaggle of tribbles if Tempest were ever infested just by hair spraying them all together, and her hair would still be in place.”

Anna let out a bright and joyous laugh and she pulled Josie into a tight hug.  "She sounds awesome to me.  Never been one for hairspray myself, I prefer my hair free and loose."

“As soon as I can make sure she’ll behave, I’ll introduce her.” Josie replied as she wrapped her arms around the other woman.

Anna leaned in for a deep kiss, her hands moving to Josie's back as she rubbed up and down.  "Y'know, I think I'm gonna like seeing you more."

Josie had never felt like this before. She’d never kissed someone so deeply she felt as if she were drowning in it before either. She liked these feelings. “As much as we can, but I don’t want to take time away from your babies. You’re still bonding. So don’t be surprised if I pop up on your ship while I can, I mean if that’s ok.”

"It's more than okay," Anna grinned, setting her forehead against Josie's.  "It's amazing you even want to."

“Why wouldn’t I?” She asked. Had she stopped smiling at all since the book store? “I don’t normally take chances or risks, it’s why I’m a navigator not a pilot. But something’s telling me that this, that you, are a chance I really really need to take.”

"Yes," Anna breathed.  Her mind was spinning and she knew her cheeks were flushed but she didn't care, it all felt so right.  "Come meet my babies," she said, her fingers tracing Josie's cheeks.  "Want them to meet the woman's who's got their mama all span around."

Leaning in Josie kissed Anna softly, then took her hand as they entered sickbay.

Looking up when the doors whooshed open, N’Ellie smirked. “Well, you actually managed more then twenty minutes. I’m impressed.”

There was a soppy look in Anna's eyes but the fear was still thrumming along her body.  "N'Ellie, want you to meet someone... This is Josie.  Josie, this is that loud roommie I told you about," Anna said with a wink.

“Loud?” N’Ellie snorted. “Well, at least she didn’t bitch about the dog.” She gave the dark haired woman a soft smile. “If you’re the one who managed to get her to take a break, you’re damn good.”

Josie laughed, a lopsided smile on her pretty face. “Trust me, it was purely selfish.”

N’Ellie raised a brow and smirked. She didn’t need to be part Betaziod to sense what was happening. Good, she thought. About damn time shit around here turned around for the better. “You’ve come back just in time. Last I checked, a couple of them were starting to wake up.”

"Which?" Anna said with a bright smile.  "Has General Quon been in?  Is Victoria and JM okay?"

“She has,” N’Ellie replied. “She had a look and will have a plan to disuse with you by tomorrow.” Leaning against one of the bio-beds, N’Ellie placed one hand on her stomach and the other on her back. “Everyone’s fine. The littlest seems rather content to simply watch the others fuss. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was laughing at them.”

"So she's okay?  Really okay?"  Anna was already pulling Josie toward where the incubators were in a private part of sick bay.  

N’Ellie nodded. “The General’s hard to read and actually kind of scary, which is saying a lot coming from me, but she did a lot of nodding and note taking and making what for Vulcan’s seemed like positive sounds.”

Josie hadn’t ever seen a nursery on a star ship before, but somehow it didn’t seem as out of place here as she’d have thought. Stepping over with Anna she looked at the five incubators that were arranged in a kind of semi-circle. “Wow,” She said softly as she looked into the first one. “They’re so tiny.”

Starting at one end, Anna introduced each baby in turn.  Then when she reached the end, she smiled at them all and said, "Guys, this is Josie."

Josie smiled and waved, a total sense of awe on her face. “You did this all by yourself? You really are amazing.”

Anna chuckled as she cuddled Josie to her side.  "In the making, I had a little help, but in the birth?  Only N'Ellie."

“All I did was cut her open and tied not to drop one.” The Klingon teased. “You wouldn’t believe how slippery they are.”

Josie smiled as dark eyes met the tiniest little grey eyes she’d ever seen. “Hello,” She said softly to the blinking baby. “You’re nearly as beautiful as your mommy.”

"Oh she's more beautiful," Anna whispered as she leaned in close to Josie.  "They're all the most beautiful beings in the universe."

The same look of awe lit up Josie’s face as she watched those tiny eyes look over at Anna as if the little one knew her mother was talking about her. Turning to look at the redhead herself, she brushed the other woman’s cheek and smiled. “You’re gonna need a really big stick with three teenage daughters with their mom’s beautiful grey eyes.”

"Stick?" Anna blinked.

Josie laughed as she wrapped her arms around the other woman. It was going to be really hard to go back to Tempest now, knowing that they were heading out soon. She wanted to stay here, to woo this woman who just dropped right out of the sky and into her life. “To beat away all the people wanting to date them. Between them and the boys, it’ll be a full time job.”

"Think I might have someone to help me?" Anna asked softly, her arms sliding around Josie's waist.

“We’ll borrow your boss’s dog.” Josie said with a smile and then kissed Anna again. “This is real right? I didn’t bump my head or fall sleep reading some romance novel?”

"It's real," Anna whispered.  "And it feels so right.  I think this is gonna be good for us."

“It won’t be easy.” Josie said as she held Anna a little tighter. “You here and me on Tempest. We’re due to leave for the gamma quadrant soon.”

“That’s why they invented subspace!” N’Ellie yelled out in a very bright and, kind of creepy on a Klingon, cheery voice.

Josie laughed. “You were right, she is loud.”
"Told ya," Anna snickered.  "And nosy.  But she's cool."

Josie brushed at Anna’s cheek again, dark eyes locked on grey. “I can deal with her and whatever else we have to, too see this, this, what ever this wonderful thing is between us, grow.”

--

A.D.A Alex Cabot: He's as bad as his client hoping the victim is to traumatized to testify! He’s lucky I didn’t knock his teeth down his throat!

Capt. Don Cragen: I’d pay real money to see that.

--

A.D.A Alex Cabot: He's as bad as his client hoping the victim is to traumatized to testify! He’s lucky I didn’t knock his teeth down his throat!

Capt. Don Cragen: I’d pay real money to see that.

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  • » [USS Tempest] Kismet