Making Plans

Posted on Thu Mar 1, 2018 @ 9:03pm by Lieutenant Martha Cusack & Lieutenant JG Lucia Cusack & Warrant Officer William Fontaine

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Cusacks' Quarters
Timeline: MD31 || 20:00

Martha and Lucia were delighted with the news Lucia had received in sickbay that morning. Despite her initial regret she couldn't be there Martha had managed to put it to one side to enjoy the fact they would hopefully be parents again in the first twelve months. They hadn't told Elsie yet but planned to at a later time with a gift indicating she was going to be a big sister.

"What time is he arriving?" Martha asked.

Lucia smiled. "In about ten minutes or so"

"Oh that's good. The cake should have cooled by then - I'll just get the pot of tea ready and we should be good to go when he arrives" Martha replied.

Ten minutes soon passed and with everything ready Martha and Lucia sat on the sofa waiting patiently for William's arrival. Lucia was surprised with how quickly Martha agreed to using a sperm donor that they hadn't known until earlier that day - but Lucia hoped Martha witnessing his good qualities first hand would seal the deal.

William showed up a few minutes later dressed in a soft grey three piece suit and had his hair neatly trimmed. He thought about the meeting he had had after the one with Lucia and wondered what was going to happen at this one. He took a breath and reached out to tap the chime.

Martha and Lucia heard the chime. Deciding it was best to have a familiar face do the introductions it was Lucia who went up to the door and opened it. Once the doors had fully retracted into the bulkhead Lucia smiled at Willie.

"Hello there. You're looking great this evening" Lucia said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cusack," he said with a smile as he waited to be invited in.

Lucia stood to one side and moved her arm to invite Willie into the room. Martha walked over to her wife and then offered a hand out to William for a shake.

"A pleasure Mr Fontaine. I've heard a lot of good things about you" Martha said.

Willie stepped in and gave a warm smile to Martha as he shook her hand. "It's my pleasure," he said. "And please, call me Willie. I hear Mister and think people are talking about my father. Thank you for inviting me this evening, Mrs. Cusack." He briefly wondered which one would take the dominant role of Mrs and how they knew who he was addressing since neither had given him permission to use their first names.

Lucia had returned to sitting on the sofa whilst Martha finished introducing herself to Willie.

"Of course Willie - and please feel free to use our first names - particularly as there's two "Mrs Cusack"s here. Would you like a cup of tea or would you prefer something else?" Martha responded.

"Tea with a lemon twist would be lovely, Martha," he said. "Thank you."

Martha nodded. "Please sit down. I will go and prepare some lemon for you"

Whilst Martha went to prepare the lemon for their guest Lucia looked at Willie and decided to ask him how his day had gone. She hoped that engaging him in conversation would avoid any awkward silences.

"So...how was your day Willie?" Lucia asked.

Willie went over to take a seat and thought about the question. "It was very interesting," he said. "I learned something new from someone from my past who came back aboard the ship and my life is changing more than I thought it would. How was the rest of yours, Lucia?"

Lucia smiled. "Quiet I suppose. No bad guys to shoot today"

Martha returned with the lemon for Willie's tea and poured everyone a tea before placing the lemon inside each cup. Passing one to Willie and then to her wife Martha sat down.

"Would you like some Victoria Sponge cake Willie? I baked it especially" Martha said.

"Please," he said to Martha. "I would love some." He took his tea and took a small sip of it. "I take it Lucia told you the news?"

Martha cut William a generous piece of cake and placed it onto the plate with a cake slicer. She then gave it to Willie before nodding.

"She has. She said a lot of good things about you - such as your good qualities as a person. I have to admit I agree with Lucia - it would be extremely nice if our child or children were to have them" Martha responded.

Lucia watched as Martha cut her a piece and passed it over before she did one for herself.

Lucia nodded. "Exactly. And we know who you are - you're not just a face and a picture on a console associated with a sperm sample. We both feel it's important that we know who the baby's father is"

Willie accepted the cake with a smile. "That's very true," he said. "Some people are more comfortable not knowing but others want to know, such as yourselves. While I do appreciate the consideration, I'm certain that there's a lot more than what's in my personnel file about me, so ask away."

"Well...if we decide to go ahead with this...would you want to have a part in their life? Martha and I feel that if you wish to then we will be more than happy to let you visit and be apart of their life - but if you would prefer not to we understand and respect your decision. We appreciate that's quite a big question...so if you'd prefer to think about it that's fine" Lucia asked.

He took a bite of his cake and a sip of tea while he listened to what Lucia asked and took her words into consideration. "Before I answer that, I have something to tell both of you," he said and took a breath. "Today, a woman from my past showed up with a son I never knew I had. I want to be a part of his life, but if I donate to you and Martha to have your own child, I would like to get to know the child in any capacity that you see fit. However, I would never interfere in the raising of your child."

Lucia smiled. "That's adorable. We would love for you to be a part of his or her life to a level you are comfortable with - of course your son will come first - however we're happy for our baby to know who his or her dad is"

Martha nodded in agreement whilst she sipped her tea. She had decided to leave Lucia to do the majority of the talking - save for when her opinion was asked for of course.

"That's a huge relief off my chest," Willie admitted. "I never expected it, but I'll never shirk my responsibilities. The second thing is that I'm bisexual, so you'll never get any judgement from me on anything. I would also prefer to donate sperm medically instead of the old fashioned way to respect you both as well."

Lucia replied. "To be honest we did plan to look for a donor on the ship and I...we...are delighted to have found you. Whatever you feel able to do we will be more than grateful for. AI was what we were looking for too - we can look to start that process whenever you are ready"

After finishing speaking Lucia helped herself to a mouthful of cake which she washed down with a generous sip of her tea.

"Absolutely. We're ready to begin when you are - however if you would prefer to wait until you have spent more time with your son we completely understand. After all we were lucky enough to have found you so soon after getting the news we wanted - so we want you to be ready as well" Martha added.

"Are you sure you don't have more questions for me?" Willie asked, a bit surprised.

Martha nodded. "Well...we were wondering whether you could tell us a bit more about yourself? After all it's always better to hear about someone from them rather than their profile"

"I'm hopelessly addicted to hot cocoa, I was an only child, I grew up on the beaches of Nice, France, and I can't help but tease people," he said. "I enlisted with Starfleet when I was seventeen and decided to enter Medical because I love helping people, and I am fiercely loyal to those I call friends."

Lucia and Martha both listened with interest. Looking at each other and giving each other a knowing look they looked at William and smiled.

"Loyalty is very important to us so it's wonderful to hear that. Do you mind us asking how old your son is?" Lucia replied.

"He's about four months," Willie told them. "And absolutely adorable. He has my hair and his mother's eyes. There is another thing, too." He paused. "I contracted Choriocytosis as a child. It was a virus which affected the ability of blood cells to carry oxygen to the body's organs. The only known treatment was strobolin, a rare naturally occurring substance that was only found on a few planets. A synthesized version could be administered to slow the progression of the disease, but the recipient became immune within days."

Lucia then reached for Martha's hand to assure that she would ask Willie about the virus - after all Lucia knew Martha could sometimes worry about things before they were even worth worrying about - if at all.

Lucia nodded. "That's sweet - hopefully him and his mother can stick around here so you can be a part of his life every day. Will that virus affect any of your offspring?"

"It shouldn't because it's not hereditary," Willie said. "Still, it almost killed me due to oxygen starvation of my organs. My parents went heavily in debt to a Ferengi to get the cure to me." His eyes hardened at that last bit, but he didn't elaborate.

Martha and Lucia both nodded sincerely to confirm they had understood.

Martha had never had good dealings with the Ferengi but chose not to share her opinion of them. It wasn't really the right time - she had a feeling Willie didn't want to talk about it.

"That sounds awful Willie I'm so sorry. I'm glad you have recovered though and I'm sure your parents are very proud of how far you have come" Lucia replied.

"Oh, and I did get arrested once, but I was a minor at the time," Will admitted. "I got into the computer system at school and set off every alarm there was."

Lucia giggled. It sounded just like something Willie would do based on her experience of him so far.

"I've arrested people for worse" Martha commented.

"Can you tell me a little about yourselves?" Willie asked after taking another bite of his cake and a sip of tea. "What got you into the Security and Tactical fields?"

Lucia looked at Martha to indicate she should go first. Martha was in the middle of taking a bite of her cake so after swallowing it she told Willie about her career journey.

"Well I actually started in Operations. I was there for about eighteen months or so before I was transferred to Tactical to cover for a staff shortage. For most of my career I covered both Tactical and Security but now I'm just in charge of Tactical which I feel I am stronger in" Martha responded.

Lucia smiled. "I followed after my dad and brother - they were all Security Officers when they started their careers. My father is now a Rear Admiral in the Gamma Quadrant and my brother has command of his own starship. He did offer us places on his ship but I think sometimes it's best not to serve under the command of a family member"

"I'm surprised nobody said anything when we started dating because I was your department head. I guess it depends on the CO's view of relationships between department heads and their junior colleagues" Martha added.

"Well, the CO and former Executive Officer are married here," Willie said. "And now the current Exec is dating the Chief of Operations, so I don't think the Commodore has a problem with that as long as you don't let it interfere with your duties."

"Exactly. We've served together as a married couple under a few different COs and nobody's ever really said anything. And even so now we're here Martha isn't really my Department Head - I report to Lieutenant Mallory" Lucia replied.

Martha nodded. "That's true. Can I get you anything else Willie? Another cup of tea maybe?"

"No, thank you," he said. "The cake was delicious. I'll have to get the recipe from you if you're willing to share."

He thought for a moment. "Have either of you ever had experience with children?"

Martha nodded to confirm she'd heard what Willie said.

"Well...we adopted our daughter when she was twelve and Martha has a goddaughter who is three years old - she'll be four in March. When we're on shore leave we go to stay with Julia's parents and we look after her and take her out with us to give her parents a break" Lucia replied.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about yourselves?" Willie asked.

Martha nodded. "Well...we've been together and married for four years. We got together and as soon as I realised how much I loved Lucia I asked her to marry me. Shortly after that we walked down the aisle and we both became Mrs Cusack. Other than that...I like baking - I'll get you that recipe by the way - and outdoor activities. Rock climbing is a favourite of mine"

"Well...I like singing and writing my own songs - I haven't really done much of that lately though because we've moved and been really busy with our work. I like helping Martha with the cooking too - usually some native dishes passed down from my mother" Lucia replied.

Martha smiled. "You do virtually all of the cooking Lucia. Stop being so modest"

"Oh, I love to sing, too," Willie said. "I'd love to hear you sometime."

Lucia beamed. "Maybe we can do a karaoke night? I could bring my guitar as well - I just need to tune it and it'll be good to go. What sort of music do you enjoy singing?"

"Just about anything that makes me happy," he said. "Something light and joyful or a happy go lucky song. What about you?"

"The same really. I like to do anything which makes people feel happy or want to get up and dance. I love watching people dancing whilst I'm singing. It makes me want to do it all night" Lucia replied.

"I dance a little but mainly when I'm in the shower," Willie said. "And speaking of all night, I just realized how late it's getting. I should probably leave you two to discuss what we talked about. Is it okay if I give you my decision in a couple days?"

Martha and Lucia looked at eachother and nodded. They knew it wasn't really an easy decision to make and if he ultimately changed his mind then there were sperm samples available to them.

Lucia nodded. "Yeah...of course. Just take your time - we totally understand the situation and if you decide in a couple of days it isn't for you then we'll respect that"

Martha also nodded to confirm that she echoed her wife's words.

"Thank you," Willie said. "It was really nice to meet you both." With a smile, he headed out.