Meet the parents

Posted on 09 Mar 2020 @ 1:44am by Civilian Eddie Reynolds

Mission: Mission 3 - Whom gods destroy ...
Location: Hawkins quarters
Timeline: MD1 19:30
1193 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Meeting his dad briefly, he had taken the bag to True and a screaming baby and done as ordered, stopping only to inform his mother that he was going to a friends. Unfortunately his mother … well somehow he had spilled everything. Tia … this bond thing …. he knew his mother wasn't happy and was sorely surprised she had let him actually go to Tia's. He would worry about that fall out later.

Nervously he pressed the chime to the Hawkins quarters.

The door opened and Tia smiled at Eddie when she saw who it was. "Hi," she said enthusiastically. "Come in. Mom," Tia said to a woman who looked remarkably like her daughter except her eyes were a different color. "This is Eddie."

"Welcome Eddie." The woman said. "I'm Catherine." She offered her hand to him to shake, figuring that as the captain's son he'd know about Earth customs. "Oh and my husband will be joining us shortly, he's just getting off his shift. Please have a seat."

Eddie took the hand and shook it. He had seen his grandparents engage in this interaction plenty of time when visiting earth. Even his father and uncle did it frequently. On Betazed of course it was not necessary. Greetings were mental. "Thank you Mrs Hawkins." he couldn't quite bring himself to call her Catherine at all.

He looked trying to determine the safest place to sit. Nothing screamed out at him so he took the seat closest to him.

"I don't want to intrude," he said suddenly the full weight of her father was coming registering in his brain. "I can come back later if Mr Hawkins wants to relax after his shift."

"It's fine," Catherine assured him.

"Breathe Eddie," Tia said with an uncharacteristic laugh. "Dad's not going to eat you."

Catherine smiled at her daughter. "No, we're not angry with you. You had no control over what happened, just like Tia didn't. We only wanted to hear about your idea about this pet because it is a big responsibility." Just as the words left her mouth the door opened again and a man stepped in. He was tall, dark haired but he had Tia's eyes.

"Sorry," He sighed. "The lab was backed up again . . . and hi there. You must be Eddie."

"Yes sir," Eddie said quickly. His eyes darted rapidly round the room, not really sure what or who to look at.

Tia looked at him and could feel his panic, it was a strange sensation. She knew it wasn't her and yet it bothered her a lot. She moved closer to Eddie and fought the urge to take his hand, not wanting to really scare him. "So, I told them about the bearded dragon. And as pets they're easy to take care of." Tia began hoping he would focus on that. "They eat bugs and vegetables but we would to need an aquarium with a light so it can stay warm and have places to hide, they like logs and things."

"There also very smart," Eddie found himself saying. "They can perceive illusion you know. They did tests with dinner plates and food. Well a long long long time ago. The Delboeuf illusion. And they are very docile. Excellent first pets."

"And that's all very interesting." Catherine said looking at her husband who raised his eyebrows and then smiled as he stepped over the replicator. "But what about feeding him or her? Are you going to take turns? Will it be living with us full time or trading spaces?"

"Here, full time, I think." Tia said looking at Eddie again. "Your dad wasn't too keen on having a pet. But we could take turns feeding it. Maybe split the shifts?"

"Well .. dad … the cap …. dad …. hes a little OCD. I live in hope that he will warm up to the idea. If he does I can take it for visits right? And yes I'm not squeamish, happy to do my bit feeding bugs and the like," Eddie volunteered.

"Good," Tia smiled. "And yeah, if it's okay with your dad I think you can have him or her overnight or for longer if you want." She looked at her mother. "What do you think?"

"Hmm," Catherine said again. "I think this is a big responsibility, but responsibility is never something you've been lacking Tia. So, Eddie, I will ask that you not let my daughter down in this. She would take care of it all herself if need by but I'd really like to see a partnership in this."

"I can do responsibility Mrs Hawkins. And besides if I let her down my dad will certainly not let me forget things. He will expect that to happen too," he smiled slightly although the mention of partnership was a little daunting.

Catherine looked over at her husband who gave no verbal comment but nodded his head barely.

"Alright, you can get a bearded dragon." Catherine said.

Tia practically squealed with delight and hugged Eddie before she'd really thought about what she'd done. She bounded up from her spot and hugged her mom too. "I am so excited, I'm going to look at names." Leaving Eddie alone in the room with her parents she dashed off to her bedroom.

Richard grinned. "Excited seems like too simple a word. Would you like anything to eat or drink Eddie? Ice cream perhaps, I've heard you have a fondness for it?"

"Who doesn't like ice cream?" Eddie said not entirely sure what had just happened. One second she had hugged him, then disappeared. "Ermmm what else have you heard?" he asked nervously.

The man laughed. "I would like to believe Tia tells us everything. Why? Is there something you'd rather we not know?"

"No …. No," Eddie said starting to get worked up again then he caught it. The man was amused. He was winding him up. This was another emotion he could seemingly identify now. And a nice one. He suddenly smiled. His dad was right this ability had an upside when they were good emotions.

"You are welcome to wait around for her, but I'm not sure when she's coming out. Tia gets tunnel vision about something and zones out the rest of the world for hours. I wouldn't be surprised if she finds you later with a list of a thousand names."

"It sound nice but Tia and I spent a little time in the medusas head earlier and well … its my mums night with me and shes expecting me. So I really should … but thank you," Eddie said. "I'm sure she will find me with a list though." He got the feeling it would be colour coded, precise and shift patterns all planned out ready.

"Sure, have a good night Eddie." Richard said as he watched him walk towards the door. He had reservations about this bond, they all did. But he also trusted his daughter, she was a good kid and wasn't likely to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. But, what she was comfortable with now was getting a bit more scary.

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Eddie Reynolds
Npc Jonathan Reynolds

Amiltia Hawkins
NPC True Keading