Telling the Parents

Posted on Wednesday, 19 January 2022 - 2:05pm by Crewman Leopold Eberhardt & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt

Mission: Operation: Crimson Kaleidoscope
Location: USS Standing Bear
Timeline: [BACK POST]

The Eberhardt family had grown by one, beautiful baby girl. It was Christmas day and this was a gift neither of the couple would forget. They were supposed to call the Eberhardt parents that day anyway. It was in lieu of being able to contact Adrianna's own parents, but at least it was still family.

They'd told Leopold's parents about Christmas and Adrianna had sent gifts in preparation. This gift, however, this was a bit different. One that they didn't expect to actually be on time. "Go on then, get your parents on the comm," Adrianna smiled to Leopold, sitting up on the biobed and pulling the baby's bed closer to them.

Leopold was at the side of the biobed, having moved in closer to see the family he had cobbled together. This was what he had always wanted, had dreamt about, and longed for. Though when he was younger, more reckless, it was not what he was thinking about when he left Ekos behind, but ultimately, this was why he left Ekos behind - to create a family, to have a future of his own. "I love you," he said placing his hand gently on Adrianna's shoulder. "Both of you" he added, looking at his daughter.

"My parents," he said breathly. "They are going to adore her, but also be disappointed that they were not here right now to see her. We are going to have to tell them soon...if not visit them before they come back to visit us." Fortunately, his parents had left Ekos and resettled.

Adrianna smiled. She was exhausted but very much feeling all the hormones rushing through her system. She tore her eyes away from the sleeping newborn and smiled to Leopold. "We could call them now. Let them know," she almost whispered.

"We could," Leo replied though he was concerned about his wife, the mother of his daughter. "You know my parents. They can be absolutely exhausting, and you've just recently had a baby. Are you going to be able to handle them right now?"

Adrianna couldn't help but chuckle softly, "it's a two minute call to say they are grandparents and to wish them a merry Christmas. I'm sure they'd send your ass back to Ekos if you didn't call them and that is not a risk we want to take."

"There's no way that I am ever going back to Ekos after what we - after all the family has been through," Leopold crisply replied. He had no intentions of even hearing the planet's name again. "A two minute call. We let them know and wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and do the whole thing where they want to spoil their grandchild."

"Perhaps we tell them the name we agreed on, if it was a girl, too," she added, "come on. Call them. It's the closest I have to telling parents until I can next, safely, get a message home."

"We would not have that issue if your mother and that stunod brother of yours would leave, and resettle somewhere nice, stay away from all that trouble," he said to his wife. "Love the Baciamis, but I like that you got away from that."

"I'm not discussing this right now," Adrianna had a smile on her face, her voice still calm, but it was a clear 'shut the hell up' glare in her eyes.

It was one of the many things about his wife that Leopold loved. She was direct - to the point with none of that sugary sweet fluff to soften her blows or what she meant. She said no and she meant no. When she told him they were not discussing it right now, that meant that they were not discussing it right now. "See? This is why you are going to make a good mother. Already, you are prepared to say no to an unruly child."

"I won't comment about husbands being the only unruly child in a family," Adrianna chuckled. She kissed the top of her daughter's head, "now, come on, call them."

With a noticeable heavy sigh, Leopold walked over to a console that was nearby. He had enough ship knowledge and general engineering and operational experience to know that he could tap into the starship's communications systems and get a hold of his family through a subspace communique. They were fortunately close enough to where the Eberhardt's had settled, and not out of range.

Soon the screen flickered once and was replaced by two familiar faces. Leopold's mother, extroverted to the maximum practically shrilled Leopold's ear off causing him to take several steps back in response to her "Leopold my precious!" It was something he was not used to, but with the death of his sister, his mother was returning to her clingy ways, much like she did when he was her only child.

"What is wrong, son?" came his father. The man always expected the worse, a trait one acquires from living so many years on Ethos.

Leopold was obscuring their view of mother and daughter. He took a deep breath and stepped aside slowly "Mutter, Vatter, we have someone for you to see." It took only seconds for the two to connect the dots and catch sight of their daughter-in-law holding a newborn. Leopold's father looked like he was about to keel over and faint. His mother was silent only for a moment before she started to let out a gleeful shrill, only to quickly cover her mouth as to not disturb the baby.

His mother looked at Adrianna. "Ja, You give me beautiful gift, Adrianna. You make my son happy and you bring us baby."

Adrianna smiled, "I'm sure Emilia will look forward to meeting you both, in person."

"Emilia," both the Eberhardts said in unison, mournful and yet delighted. Their daughter had died on Ekos, but their granddaughter was named in her honor. It was not something that either of them were expecting. Henrietta Eberhardt wiped the tears from her eyes and gleamed with a smile. "We want to meet her as soon as possible. We want to see little Emilia."

"We should be on a base soon," Adrianna agreed, "soon, we promise."

Henrietta nodded. "Alright, dear. Soon. If it is not soon enough, I will be on the next transport out of here and I'll find my way to that starship of yours. You cannot keep a grandmother from her precious little granddaughter. Doesn't matter if you go all the way to the Delta Quadrant."

The temptation to say 'how about Ekos' was on the tip of her tongue. Instead, Adrianna chuckled lightly, "Don't worry. We will."

"We will be expecting you," Henrietta said almost as though she was cautioning the couple. "Don't you two surprise us like this again, I want to be there for my next grandchild."

"Thank you," Adrianna smiled, "see you both soon." She looked to Leopold. It was a subtle hint to close the call. Even if Adrianna remained in touch, like normal families, her own mother wouldn't have been so... Henrietta.

Leopold swiftly closed the channel and muttered something in his Ekosian German. He looked over at Adrianna and shook his head.