Interlude – (Pt 6) All the better to gobble you up, my dear.....
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
OLD:
"Gets *what* from his father? What is his father like? I never hear about him." Chelsea asked, curious about this new line of conversation.
Before Margaret could answer, Chelsea already regretted asking that question, her second thoughts being brought on by the looks on Rick's and Kim's faces.
NEW:
“You never told her?” said Captain Dunham to her son Rick. It was less of an accusation and more of a statement. “Chelsea Richard's father, my husband, is dead.” There was no mournfulness to her tone. It was not that she did not care; it was that she had come to terms with it long ago. “He died in a tragic accident.” She looked slightly wistful as she remembered her husband’s memory. “What I mean to say is that, Richards adventurous spirit, and skill in combat he must of got from his father.”
"I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have mentioned it, I hope I haven't upset you." Chelsea apologised generically, including them all in it.
She was none the wiser as to what was meant by *tragic accident* but she certainly wasn't going to ask any more about it here or now.
The captain gave a nod “ it’s not your fault my dear, the family sometimes has a hard time talking about it. I know Richard does......and well my daughter...” She left the last comment hanging in the air, shaking her head slightly and looking at her granddaughter Kim. “Anyway that’s in the past. Tell us about your family Chelsea?”
"My father died too. When I was six years old so I don't have many memories of him, well not lucid ones. I vaguely remember his smell..... that sounds weird and I don't mean it oddly, I just sometimes smell aftershaves that start me thinking about him... that sort of thing. My mother returned to Earth to her own Terran family and abandoned the Bajoran name so actually, by rights, I should be Lt. Cmdr. Soran, Chelsea. I've thought recently that I should hyphenate it really, to be fair to my family." she explained.
“I remember how my dad smells.” Said Kim lightly, staring at her food and poking holes in it with a fork. “Well what do you know we all have something in common.” Said Rick slightly morbidly, the conversation was making everyone at the table a slightly depressed. The Captain decided to change the subject again, “So Chelsea how did you and Rick meet? Was it love at first sight?”
Chelsea laughed gently. "Um... no. Actually it wasn't." she looked at Rick and smiled. "We have a mutual friend who introduced us by inviting us both to dine with her individually and then making an excuse to leave us once she'd got us talking." This was her memory of it, now knowing that Rick was actually in on the set-up. To Chelsea, he had seemed equally innocent of Isha's intentions at the time.
"The second time we met was more romantic though. I twisted my ankle badly in the Arboretum and couldn't get back to my quarters unaided. I'd had a row with the CMO of the time and I didn't want to be shipped to Sickbay and have him know I'd done such a foolish thing so I called Rick who literally carried me all the way home. He was so sweet. I would have fallen in love him on sight, if I hadn't already been in a relationship at the time." she said sentimentally.The trip back down memory lane was a subject that Chelsea warmed to.
The captain scoffed a little around her food, and gave a slightly shocked smile. “Sorry I think I misunderstood that...You two had an affair?”
"No. We didn't get together until after I had split up with Ryan. But we were good friends first. Rick was there for me when *Ryan* had an affair and I was devastated. He was my best friend." Chelsea explained. This wasn't actually chronologically as accurate as Chelsea remembered it because of course Rick *had* kissed her the first night they met, but she had subconsciously selectively filed that. It began to come back to her though, the more the Captain's words made her think again about the fine detail.
“So my son is the rebound guy?” she said with only a hint of accusation in her tone.
Chelsea thought about how to return this and decided against her first instinct. "yep" she grinned lightly.
It was clear Margaret was trying to make Chelsea defensive and get her stumbling around denials etc. The new CMO of DS5 wasn't going to let her 'adversary' play that way so she changed the tone.
"I guess you could say that. It wasn't the average courtship whichever way you look at it." she confessed lightly, grinning from ear to ear as she recalled the antics they'd got up to.
"On our first date, he put me in the middle of a World War Two dogfight and got me butchered in a very bloody manner. Then he took me to Middle Earth to visit the Elves and when we played Pooh-sticks, he cheated!" Kim gasped in mock horror.
Chelsea nodded emphatically, making a pantomime out of the tales. "I know!" she said to Kim, rolling her eyes.
“That is not true” said Rick, who just had his head in his hands in denial.
"... and then I took him to a lovely mountain log cabin and he tried to give me hypothermia! Oh, and he took me on a picnic to a planet where there were purple bugs with orange wings that ate my sandwich.... " Now she was exaggerating outrageously and thoroughly enjoying the look on his face and the wide-eyed wonder from Kim who was seeing her Uncle as she never had before.
Rick just looked gobsmacked and speechless, he was going a funny shade of red from embarrassment, but he laughed with Chelsea who seemed to be enjoying herself. He spluttered a little as he tried to get out more denial, but to no avail, he just said. “Yet I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”
"and on the night he first kissed me... he tipped a jug of water over me first!" This was a complete reversal of what actually happened and brought more protests from Rick and peals of laughter from Kim.
The captain picked delicately at her food with the silver knife and fork, she had a bemused smile on her face, seemed to be breaking the edges of her hard demeanour, for the briefest of moments she looked almost content to have her family around her once again.
Chelsea let up on Rick who seemed to be suffering. "I never met anyone so awesome in my whole life." she dropped the pantomime and became serious. "Rebound or not, he's the best thing that ever happened in my whole life. If he ended this now I'd never regret one single second we spent together. I wake up every morning wondering what he'll do next and I can't settle until I've seen his face and drowned in those phenomenal eyes." she finished with real love in her voice and on her face.
Margaret could do her worst. If she couldn't tell Chelsea was for real now then she was never going to be convinced.
Kim fell silent and looked at Chelsea who was gazing at Rick as if he had angels' wings and a halo and had just descended from a cloud. It didn't matter if he wasn't an angel, to Chelsea he was the next best thing and revisiting all the wonderful things they'd done together had just reinforced it all for her.
She reached across the corner of the table and put her hand on top of his, linking her fingers in between his as if there was no-one else in the room.
As Rick looked into Chelsea’s eyes they were broken from their revere by their plates being removed and desert being served. Kim Rolled her eyes at the romantic couple, still not really getting the concept of relationships at her age. Dessert was a traditional earth cheesecake served with cream. Margaret watched the two from the head of the table and nodded to herself. “You’ll do just fine my dear.” She said with a smile.
Chelsea blushed. "Thank you, Ma'am" she reverted to the rank for a moment before moving the conversation back to lightness.
"Does that mean I get to see these promised baby photos then?" she added lightly, smirking at Rick.
“I have the slide show ready” said the CO with a smile on her face. Dunham made a small groaning noise in despair.
Off:
Lt Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader
and
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO - DS5
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
| Title | (Pt 6) All the better to gobble you up, my dear..... | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham | |
| Posted | Thu May 20, 2010 @ 8:59am | |
| Location | CO's Dining Room - USS Hagnon |
"Gets *what* from his father? What is his father like? I never hear about him." Chelsea asked, curious about this new line of conversation.
Before Margaret could answer, Chelsea already regretted asking that question, her second thoughts being brought on by the looks on Rick's and Kim's faces.
NEW:
“You never told her?” said Captain Dunham to her son Rick. It was less of an accusation and more of a statement. “Chelsea Richard's father, my husband, is dead.” There was no mournfulness to her tone. It was not that she did not care; it was that she had come to terms with it long ago. “He died in a tragic accident.” She looked slightly wistful as she remembered her husband’s memory. “What I mean to say is that, Richards adventurous spirit, and skill in combat he must of got from his father.”
"I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have mentioned it, I hope I haven't upset you." Chelsea apologised generically, including them all in it.
She was none the wiser as to what was meant by *tragic accident* but she certainly wasn't going to ask any more about it here or now.
The captain gave a nod “ it’s not your fault my dear, the family sometimes has a hard time talking about it. I know Richard does......and well my daughter...” She left the last comment hanging in the air, shaking her head slightly and looking at her granddaughter Kim. “Anyway that’s in the past. Tell us about your family Chelsea?”
"My father died too. When I was six years old so I don't have many memories of him, well not lucid ones. I vaguely remember his smell..... that sounds weird and I don't mean it oddly, I just sometimes smell aftershaves that start me thinking about him... that sort of thing. My mother returned to Earth to her own Terran family and abandoned the Bajoran name so actually, by rights, I should be Lt. Cmdr. Soran, Chelsea. I've thought recently that I should hyphenate it really, to be fair to my family." she explained.
“I remember how my dad smells.” Said Kim lightly, staring at her food and poking holes in it with a fork. “Well what do you know we all have something in common.” Said Rick slightly morbidly, the conversation was making everyone at the table a slightly depressed. The Captain decided to change the subject again, “So Chelsea how did you and Rick meet? Was it love at first sight?”
Chelsea laughed gently. "Um... no. Actually it wasn't." she looked at Rick and smiled. "We have a mutual friend who introduced us by inviting us both to dine with her individually and then making an excuse to leave us once she'd got us talking." This was her memory of it, now knowing that Rick was actually in on the set-up. To Chelsea, he had seemed equally innocent of Isha's intentions at the time.
"The second time we met was more romantic though. I twisted my ankle badly in the Arboretum and couldn't get back to my quarters unaided. I'd had a row with the CMO of the time and I didn't want to be shipped to Sickbay and have him know I'd done such a foolish thing so I called Rick who literally carried me all the way home. He was so sweet. I would have fallen in love him on sight, if I hadn't already been in a relationship at the time." she said sentimentally.The trip back down memory lane was a subject that Chelsea warmed to.
The captain scoffed a little around her food, and gave a slightly shocked smile. “Sorry I think I misunderstood that...You two had an affair?”
"No. We didn't get together until after I had split up with Ryan. But we were good friends first. Rick was there for me when *Ryan* had an affair and I was devastated. He was my best friend." Chelsea explained. This wasn't actually chronologically as accurate as Chelsea remembered it because of course Rick *had* kissed her the first night they met, but she had subconsciously selectively filed that. It began to come back to her though, the more the Captain's words made her think again about the fine detail.
“So my son is the rebound guy?” she said with only a hint of accusation in her tone.
Chelsea thought about how to return this and decided against her first instinct. "yep" she grinned lightly.
It was clear Margaret was trying to make Chelsea defensive and get her stumbling around denials etc. The new CMO of DS5 wasn't going to let her 'adversary' play that way so she changed the tone.
"I guess you could say that. It wasn't the average courtship whichever way you look at it." she confessed lightly, grinning from ear to ear as she recalled the antics they'd got up to.
"On our first date, he put me in the middle of a World War Two dogfight and got me butchered in a very bloody manner. Then he took me to Middle Earth to visit the Elves and when we played Pooh-sticks, he cheated!" Kim gasped in mock horror.
Chelsea nodded emphatically, making a pantomime out of the tales. "I know!" she said to Kim, rolling her eyes.
“That is not true” said Rick, who just had his head in his hands in denial.
"... and then I took him to a lovely mountain log cabin and he tried to give me hypothermia! Oh, and he took me on a picnic to a planet where there were purple bugs with orange wings that ate my sandwich.... " Now she was exaggerating outrageously and thoroughly enjoying the look on his face and the wide-eyed wonder from Kim who was seeing her Uncle as she never had before.
Rick just looked gobsmacked and speechless, he was going a funny shade of red from embarrassment, but he laughed with Chelsea who seemed to be enjoying herself. He spluttered a little as he tried to get out more denial, but to no avail, he just said. “Yet I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”
"and on the night he first kissed me... he tipped a jug of water over me first!" This was a complete reversal of what actually happened and brought more protests from Rick and peals of laughter from Kim.
The captain picked delicately at her food with the silver knife and fork, she had a bemused smile on her face, seemed to be breaking the edges of her hard demeanour, for the briefest of moments she looked almost content to have her family around her once again.
Chelsea let up on Rick who seemed to be suffering. "I never met anyone so awesome in my whole life." she dropped the pantomime and became serious. "Rebound or not, he's the best thing that ever happened in my whole life. If he ended this now I'd never regret one single second we spent together. I wake up every morning wondering what he'll do next and I can't settle until I've seen his face and drowned in those phenomenal eyes." she finished with real love in her voice and on her face.
Margaret could do her worst. If she couldn't tell Chelsea was for real now then she was never going to be convinced.
Kim fell silent and looked at Chelsea who was gazing at Rick as if he had angels' wings and a halo and had just descended from a cloud. It didn't matter if he wasn't an angel, to Chelsea he was the next best thing and revisiting all the wonderful things they'd done together had just reinforced it all for her.
She reached across the corner of the table and put her hand on top of his, linking her fingers in between his as if there was no-one else in the room.
As Rick looked into Chelsea’s eyes they were broken from their revere by their plates being removed and desert being served. Kim Rolled her eyes at the romantic couple, still not really getting the concept of relationships at her age. Dessert was a traditional earth cheesecake served with cream. Margaret watched the two from the head of the table and nodded to herself. “You’ll do just fine my dear.” She said with a smile.
Chelsea blushed. "Thank you, Ma'am" she reverted to the rank for a moment before moving the conversation back to lightness.
"Does that mean I get to see these promised baby photos then?" she added lightly, smirking at Rick.
“I have the slide show ready” said the CO with a smile on her face. Dunham made a small groaning noise in despair.
Off:
Lt Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader
and
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO - DS5