JL | Com Ivanova, Capt Neyes - "Something New"

Posted on Tue May 31st, 2016 @ 8:37pm by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Captain Landon Neyes

1,666 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Resurgere

In the inky black abyss of space, life was often anything but ordinary; a statement that was especially true for the illustrious crew of the USS Vindicator. It seemed that nothing ever came simple or easy for them, and it certainly never came gratis. But when the ashes and dust finally settled, and they were allowed a moment of peace, it was usually grand.
Though the tempest following the destruction of the Vindicator-E was still content to rage, there had come a lull. One a particular little Commodore, and those closest to her, would be eternally thankful for. It had come in the form of a newborn’s cry at a little past two in the morning and replaced stress and worry with a heaping helping of relief and joy. Javaan Irelle’s birth had been uneventful, though long. Eighteen hours had been spent in a combination of hallway pacing and yoga like stretching in an attempt to hurry things along – acts of contrition that Rochelle would likely never forgive Tristan and Landon for as they happily put her through her paces, reveling in their esteemed positions of being her coaching and cheer squad much to not only her chagrin, but that of Cold Station Theta’s medical staff.

It was worth it.

Tucked in the crook of her arm, Javaan was a delightful combination of warm, pink, and perfect. As interested in the outside world as it was in him, he seemed content to fight sleep and peer over the folds of the receiving blanket that contained him. Rochelle was content to rest and count, for easily the thirtieth time, the number of faintly budding spots that contoured her son’s chubby little face.

Careful not to crowd the baby and to be as gentle with Rochelle as possible, Landon rested his head along the back of her biobed. His right ear touching Rochelle's, he peered into the little boy's eyes as they wandered the room in casual observance. Javaan looked to the ceiling, then at the nurse working in the corner, before finally settling in on looking at his mother. Landon felt her cheeks rise as just the sight of her son plastered a smile across her features. Rochelle, given the ordeal of childbirth still appeared to be in complete control of her faculties, and nothing seemed to fade the radiant woman's ability to shine.

"Hello, Javaan." Landon whispered, before turning to place a soft kiss on Ivanova. "And thank you."

Her tired brow furrowed in confusion, “Thank me?” She chirped in question, “for what?”

Though exhausted, the woman was elated and a good measure of pain management techniques had happily handled the rest, allowing her to focus on what mattered most. The man curled against her, warm and tender, and the little boy working to wrap them both around his tiny wrinkled fingers had taken the foremost spot in the list of things she cherished and worried most about. Vindicator had long ago proven she could, for the most part, take care of herself – at least when there weren’t psychotic Romulans a foot… A thought she quickly chased from her mind. Tr’Bak had no place there. Not when she and Landon were quietly celebrating the birth of their son and undoubtedly admiring their handiwork.

As if on cue, and perhaps sensing his mother’s distraction, Javaan yawned and set about trying to figure his way out of the confines of his swaddle. “He’s already testing boundaries,” Rochelle hummed in amusement while trying to tuck the soft fabric back around the wiggling newborn. “kinda like someone else I know.”

Neyes smiled in response, "Thank you for this, for him, and for everything else." Landon gently touched his son's cheek with a finger, feeling for the first time the new life born unto them. Neyes had taken part in plenty on similar experiences before, having been both a mother and a father to children of previous hosts. This time though, it had been unexpected, entirely unplanned. He felt riveted and captivated by the potential for the boy, but also for the twists and turns he'd introduce. Rochelle had been hesitant to let anyone know at first, and thus added to the sense that nothing had been part of the agenda they'd set for themselves. Javaan was a rogue element in their lives.

"Any bets on career choice?" Landon teased, "Perhaps a Starfleet pilot? A Captain or Admiral?"

The light in Rochelle's eyes tempered and dimmed at the explanation of his gratitude. "You don't need to thank me for any of it, Landon." She offered him with a slow shake of her head, "If anything, I should be apologizing to you for being selfish."

In the beginning, when she first had suspected her pregnancy - and then when it had been confirmed - there had been an overwhelming sense of foreboding that had consumed her. A child, like falling in love with Landon himself, had never been on her list of things to accomplish in life. She'd never felt maternal, nor paid any particular attention to the sound of her ever ticking biological clock. After all, a baby, being a mother, seemed tantamount to being a death sentence in the environment they lived in. And then, of course, there was the fear that Landon, the better half of her whole, wouldn't have wanted the 'burden' of the life growing within her. The Fates, however, had always had a different design in mind for the firebrand's life, and for that she was incredibly thankful. Hiding and disguising her pregnancy had been an all time low. Denial was a rich world of fantasy that had slowly been absolved and banished as her waistline began to expand only to completely come apart at the seams the first time she'd felt him move within her. It was then, closely coupled with finally allowing Rotek to share with her the sound of Javaan's wildly galloping little heart, that she fell hopelessly in love with her child much in the same way she'd fallen for his father. It was impossible to become immune to the charm and beauty of either one, and she'd never stood a chance. Protecting them had fast become her full time job, and then she'd nearly thrown it all away. The point remained, however, that she'd denied her lover over three months of bonding with his unborn son.

The guilt tasted sour.

She shifted to hold the cooing bundle closer to Landon, silently offering him the chance to hold their son for the first time. "If he's anything like us," She said, brushing her lips over the dark down of the boy's hair, "he'll be all of the above and more."

The offer to hold Javaan was never going to be refused, and Landon looked from his newborn son up to Rochelle. As if there was some unspoken permission to still be made between them in order to remove the boy from his mother. She held him out and smiled, and Landon cradled the fragile baby in his arms. It was more of an adjustment than he remembered, holding an infant. Neyes' arms curved in on themselves a little while he supported the head, and gently pressed the little body against his chest. The captain's heart melted a little when the soft breath of the baby cooed at his touch, and Vaan gently pressed against him with tender, chubby hands. Looking anywhere else in the room was out of the question, as Landon's eyes locked on his son with admiration and love. The boy was the perfect mix between his favorite person in the world, and himself.

"I wouldn't be replaced as number one by anyone else, mister." He whispered, smiling a little at Rochelle. "I also offered three days rations to an engineering crew. They should have his room finished up and ready to go as soon as the Doc lets you go."

"He should decide to let us go here pretty soon. Everything is perfectly fine, he's just over zealous." She huffed in response, brushing away the entire ordeal like it was just another thing and hardly worthy of note. It had left her humbled and quieted by the magic of mortality and life. Proven, yet again, that was far from infallible by leaving her raw and vulnerable like nothing else ever had. Landon's 'death' had left her feeling helpless, but the birth of her son had taken that to a whole new level, forced her to trust and rely on the ability of others... To trust that they'd be there should something, anything, have gone wrong. Being able to look up at the two of them, though, erased the worry and the anxiety of those hours. Javaan softened the warrior. Left him open and even more beautiful to Rochelle than ever before - hardly an easy parlor trick to accomplish. It warmed even the coldest cockles of her her heart, uplifting her and causing her chest to swell with pride and a multitude of emotions that prickled along the length of her nose, threatening tears in their wake. They were a family, perhaps a little unorthadox, but a family nonetheless. "We did good, you and I," she couldn't manage much more than a loud whisper lest she betray her latest round of weakness, a task she was failing miserably at and fast knowing that she didn't need to keep up any form of pretense with Landon, "he's beautiful. Perfect, really... How the Hell did I accomplish that?"

"I helped." Landon teased, handing their son back to her. "I'm going to go talk to the other infant- err... doctor about when we can go." He kissed her, whispered a couple soft spoken words of love in Trill, and walked out of her private room. The doors sliding shut behind him with a soft swish.

---

Commodore Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NX 78213-F

Captain Landon Neyes
Command Liaison
USS VINDICATOR, NC 78213-F

 

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