But I wanted cookies...

Posted on Fri Jan 22nd, 2021 @ 12:40am by Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Eva Griffin & Cailus Griffin
Edited on on Fri Jan 22nd, 2021 @ 12:40am

Mission: The Gauntlet
Location: Starbase 242

Eva pouted on the floor as she looked up at the replicator; she had done this before, she remembered doing it, but she didn’t remember being so tired after getting here. She tried to push the chair closer to the replicator, but it just would not move, she was too weak, too tired. Why wasn’t this working?! Why couldn’t her body do what she was telling it to do?! It was all so frustrating and she was so hungry, that yucky milky stuff Mama and Papa were giving her just wasn’t enough to fill her belly, she wanted food! Actually, she wanted cookies, but she’d get neither if she couldn’t move this chair! Another failed attempt turned into a slip and a fall and a light bonk on her forehead, and after all her frustrations, Eva did the only thing she could think of: cry.

It was a strange thing, but even Eva’s crying was more quiet than her parents were used to, so subtly different from Aoife’s. The crying that Cailus and Shae were automatically attuned to used to wake them up easily, but Eva’s soft sobs took a good few minutes before Cailus finally stirred in bed, his body rebelling against the disturbance. Flat on his back in the darkness, consciousness returned gradually. He felt the warmth beside him and automatically looked to his right, seeing Shae on her side, facing him, baby Eoin snuggled in tight to her chest. Then, finally, the barely audible sobbing registered in Cailus’s sleep-addled mind.

“Eva,” Callus murmured in drowsy alarm. He hurried out of bed, moving to the source of the noise in the main room, still limping on a knee that was healing much slower than it should. “Lights.” The computer promptly switched the lights on, revealing the crying girl on the floor, and Cailus sighed, immediately recognising what she’d tried to do.

“I’m here, Eva, I’m here,” he said quietly, moving over to her and gently picking up. Eva was shivering, and Cailus held her tight against his bare chest as he sat down in the chair she’d been trying to push to the replicator. “It’s okay, my girl, it’s okay, everything’s okay now,” he whispered into her ear.

Slowly, Eva’s sobs and shivering began to calm, and soon she was laying relaxed on her Papa’s chest. “Hungry,” she said, her voice still full of upset and frustration.

“Cail?” came Shae’s voice from the bedroom. “Is everything alright?”

“We’re fine here, Eva just took a tumble, go back to sleep,” Callus said, not bothering to raise his voice. He didn’t even bother arguing with himself about whether to get Eva food; she had earned it, and he hated seeing her like this. The shivering and slight redness on Eva’s forehead worried him, but he refused to let Eva see it. Standing up, he limped over to the replicator, briefly pondering what to replicate.

“Chocolate pudding,” he said, smiling. Pudding duly fizzled into existence, and Cailus picked it up with his free hand before sitting back down with Eva to start giving her her hard-earned reward. He probably had to take her to Sickbay, just in case, but Cailus wanted to at least give her a few minutes peace before then.

Eva practically dove onto the spoon as he fed her the treat, her tail wagging happily. It wasn’t cookies, but it was much better than the icky drink! A few spoonfuls in, Eva looked up at her Papa and gave him the biggest chocolate smile she could. By the time the bowl was empty, she needed a new nightgown, but at least she was full and happy.

“See? All better,” Callus whispered soothingly, smiling back at Eva proudly. The silence of the room was disconcerting compared to their quarters on the Pandora, the starbase’s residential area being much more quiet than a starship’s, making the entire nighttime event seem eerie and unnatural. Still, Callus did what he could to pretend everything was normal, giving Eva a light kiss on her forehead before getting up and heading for the bedroom to get the little one changed and back to bed.

“Papa,” Eva said as they walked. “Sad?”

It was such an innocent question, but it was enough to stop Cailus short in the bedroom doorway. Just two words, but still, how could he answer that? It was a simple question with a complicated answer. Already Cailus had paused for too long to pretend that everything was fine, despite what he had said earlier.

And hell, he remembered Eva...no. He remembered Aoife back on Mars, seeing him hurting and instinctively trying to help. She hadn’t known him then, nor he, her, but she’d hugged him anyway. That had been a different child, but also the same child...how the hell did he work that one out?

“It’s okay, Eva,” Callus said finally, looking into her eyes, smiling, but this time with a tinge of melancholy. His bad leg ached, but he ignored it. “Sometimes people are sad. You, me, Mama, even your brother. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be happy, too.”

“Sad okay?” Eva said in confirmation. “Aoife sad, no cookies.”

Cailus chuckled despite himself as he set Eva on the bed, although mostly to conceal how his breath had caught at Eva’s pronunciation of her name.

“Papa? Hurt okay?” she asked as he started to remove her nightgown.

Callus grinned as he ambled over to some drawers, pulling out a handkerchief before returning to Eva. “I’ll be fine, little one,” he said reassuringly as he wiped some of the chocolate off her face. Of course Eva had watched that injury happen, along with the rather brutal subsequent beating and her mother’s merciless execution of the Director. Just another item on a very long list of trauma.

Oh, he thought she was talking about him? Well, she did worry about her Papa a lot after seeing him get hurt, but he was a strong Papa and somehow she just knew he would be okay.

“No, NO!” Eva said with a little growl of frustration that he didn’t seem to understand her anymore. “Aoife hurt!”

That stopped Cailus short as he moved to get a new gown, and he looked back at Eva with concern. He’d never had problems understanding Aoife before, even when she’d been completely mute. “You’re hurting now, Eva? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes,” Eva responded sadly. Her little body simply hadn’t been ready for the stunt she tried to pull, and all her aches were magnified, irritated further by the light shivering. “Hurts…”

Callus sighed. Of course she’d been talking about herself. “It’s alright, my girl, we’ll get you help. I’m sorry, even Papa is stupid sometimes. Come on, let’s get this on you then we can go to the infirmary.” He wasted no time getting Eva dressed before glancing at the still sleeping forms of Shae and Eoin, the blanket only up to Shae’s waist. It had been so rare to see Shae sleep so peacefully over the past few weeks, enough that Cailus was profoundly reluctant to wake her. Reasoning that Shae could call him over the comm the instant she woke up, he instead grabbed a shirt for himself, collected Eva in her habitual position on his hip and moved to the door, grabbing his cane on the way.

The door opened, but before Cailus could even begin to step through, the ever-present security guard outside their quarters blocked his way. This one was an ensign, a Bajoran woman who couldn’t be more than a year out of the Academy.

“Sir?” she asked, glancing at Eva. “I’m afraid you have to stay in your quarters.”

The glare that Cailus shot back at her was intense. “Ensign, there is an exception for when we need medical treatment. My daughter needs to go to Sickbay, now get out of my way.”

That gave the ensign pause, but she held her ground. “I’m sorry, sir, you’ll need to wait while I clear it with my superiors and call for someone to escort you. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, I promise.”

“Ensign,” Cailus growled, adding extra emphasis to the word, anger entering his voice. “I’m virtually a cripple and pose no security risk, especially when I’m carrying a girl who can’t walk. Now, you’ve done your job. Well done. Call for an escort to meet me in the infirmary, but I’m not waiting here for no blasted reason while my girl is in pain. Am I clear?”

The bite in Cailus’s tone was enough to make the ensign visibly uncomfortable, but nevertheless, she stayed put. “I’m sorry, sir, I can’t do that. Please just wait a few minutes-”

“-like hell.” Even through his irritation, Callus found himself admiring the ensign’s guts, and made a mental note to look up her record later. He could really use someone like her on the Pandora. “Shoot me or get out of my way, Ensign, but choose, because I’m taking Eva to the infirmary right now.”

It was at this point that Eva began patting at her Papa’s arm to get his attention. “Papa, Papa!” she finally spoke up. “Big trouble, Mama coming,” she said in a cautious whisper to her Papa.

Her timing was perfect because at that moment Shae appeared in the doorway in all her sleepy glory. “Do any of you have an idea of what it’s like to wake every 2 hours to nurse a newborn? Because I do, and I’m ready to start killing everyone who woke me up,” Shae said with a growling undertone. “Now you, stop being an arse and let the girl do her job,” she scolded Cailus, then quickly turned her ire on the Ensign. “And you; there are protocols in place for us to have free access to medical services. If you’re going to do this job, it’s best you familiarize yourself on these specifics so as to avoid these little dust ups, right?”

Remembering full well what had happened the last time Eva had said “Big trouble,” Callus winced, easing off. The ensign looked profoundly uncomfortable now, shifting her weight awkwardly.

“Yes, ma’am, I understand that, but…” Her words trailed off there. Facing down the guy with a stick-up-his-ass was one thing, but the sleep-deprived fox-girl was something else entirely. Remembering the stories she’d heard about them, the ensign finally relented, stepping aside. “Sorry, ma’am. I’ll let you get back to sleep now.”

“Sorry, love,” Callus said quietly to Shae, smiling apologetically. “We shouldn’t be long.”

“Good,” Shae said, then stepped close enough to give Cailus and then Eva a loving nuzzle to their cheeks, then to the Ensign she said with a smirk, “You did good standing your ground,” then disappeared back into their quarters to try to go back to sleep.

An awkward silence remained after Shae left. Chastised, Callus glanced down at Eva in bemusement. “A lesson for the future: never get on Mama’s bad side when she’s tired, little one,” he commented wrly. He glanced at the ensign, smirking. “Alright, Ensign, let’s go. You can set a security master lock on the door until your relief arrives while you escort us to the infirmary. Regs permit that much if you’re confident of your subjects’ security risk. Good enough?”

The ensign smiled back, her distinctive wrinkled nose crinkling even further. “Yeah, that’ll work, sir, just so long as your wife stays in bed. Anything else and my boss will have my ass.” As Cailus stepped out into the corridor, she regarded him skeptically. Barefoot, clad in a loose shirt and sweatpants, leaning heavily on a cane all while balancing Eva on one arm, Callus was hardly a picture of self-sufficiency.

“Sir, please, let me,” the ensign said, reaching out to pick up Eva.

Eva tilted her head curiously, then looked to her Papa for confirmation that it was okay to go to stranger-lady, and once she had his nod of approval she raised her arms to the lady and practically spilled out of Cailus’ grasp. “Ayan nose!” she observed cheerfully as she settled into the Ensign’s arms.

The ensign laughed, quickly figuring out the best position for Eva as she looked at Cailus. “Ayan nose?”

“A Bajoran friend,” Callus answered with amusement. A friend whom Eva had technically never met, but he wasn’t going to get into that at such a late hour.

“Right.” The ensign was patient, staying at least a step behind Cailus as he slowly ambled up the corridor, but she didn’t seem to mind in the slightest with Eva in her arms. Much like her sister and mother, Eva had a tendency to melt the hearts of anyone who met her in no time, and the Bajoran girl was no exception.

Eventually they reached the turbolift, and the ensign frowned as something occurred to her. She glanced sideways at Cailus. “Hang on. When your wife said that she’d kill anyone who woke her up, she was joking, right?” Callus’s sudden somber look was all the answer the ensign needed, and her eyes widened. “Oh boy...”