Karissa decided it was time to record a transmission home to her family. She
had been putting it off for awhile. First, because when her and Ryan had broken
up, she hadn't wanted to be depressed when she recorded her message . . . And
then, after she had discovered she was pregnant, she wasn't sure how she was
going to tell them. But after recent events, she felt it was time. Not only
that, there was a lot she had to tell her family . . . and she missed them terribly
. . . Especially her little brother Joshan, and especially now . . . Memories
of holding him as an infant filled her mind and she smiled. Soon, she would
have two of her own babies to hold, just like she had held Josh . . . Suddenly,
she felt the babies move and touched her abdomen gently.
"Time to send a letter home . . ." she said, as she looked down to her swelling tummy. She sighed, thinking how close she came to losing her own life and taking them with her . . . All because of her creators . . . Well, they weren't going to win, she thought. She would end up having two beautiful children, where the monsters who had done this to her couldn't touch them. If only she knew who, she thought bitterly. She would make them pay for what they had done . . . Taking a deep breath, she quelled the anger rising in her. She went to the monitor and sat down in the chair before it.
"Computer, start recording message for transmission."
<Recording> the computer replied.
She smiled and brushed a strand of
hair away from her face to behind an ear. She deliberately made it so that she
would only be recorded from the chest up. "Hi, Mom, Dad, Josh . . ."
she began. "I'm sorry you haven't heard from me since my transfer to the
Ronin-A, but a lot has gone on . . . I have so much to tell you about . . .
So much has
happened. Not so much with the ship, but with me . . . "
She paused and took a deep breath. Looking away from the screen for a moment. "Mom, Dad . . . about a month ago I found out something about myself . . . Something that really turned my world upside down," she explained. "I found out not about who I am . . . But what I am . . ." She stopped again. "I won't go into details here, but it was very disturbing for me discover. I'm coming to terms with it though . . . slowly . . . But I have to ask . . . Did you know?" She tried not to show the pain in her dark eyes, but knew it was reflected there anyway.
"I do have other news for you
though," she said, smiling gently. "And this is going to come as quite
a shock . . . A happy shock, I hope . . . You're going to be grandparents .
. . Joshan, you're going to be an uncle! I'm two months along and I'm having
twins . . . You might be
asking how this came to pass . . . Well . . . As you know, every few months
I go into heat . . .? This last time something happened, and I . . . ended up
being with three men. I know how that sounds and it resulted in some problems
at first, but they all were worked out. The men I was with, were and are, all
wonderful . . . and they each fathered a child . . ." Tears misted her
eyes for a moment, "Yes, I was originally having triplets, but I lost one
. . . and recently, I almost lost my life taking the other two with me . . .
because of what I am. I'm okay now though, so don't worry. Or try not to anyway
. . . And just so you know, I'm not going through this alone. As I said, the
three men I was with that night have been wonderful and the best friends I could
ask for . . . Ming is the Chief Science Officer here and was directly responsible
for saving my life twice and saving my babies . . . His child was the one I
miscarried." Tears misted her eyes again as she thought of Ah-Jian and
looked at the angel picture she had made for him. "As you can see, I still
have sad moments for lost son . . . yes, it was a boy . . . But I've been coming
to terms with the loss. It's just something I'm never going to forget. Will
is the Chief Medical Officer and has also been responsible for my care. Our
child is going to be a little girl that we're naming Maya Amber-Marie. I know
she's going to be beautiful. But I've saved the best for last," she smiled.
"The last man is the man that owns my heart. I love him more than I have
ever loved any man . . . He's the father of my other surviving child . . . He-"
Suddenly, the door to her quarters slid open, and Ryan walked in. He went to her and embraced her, kissing her tenderly.
"And how are you doing?" he asked.
"Wonderful," she replied with a laugh. "Say hello to my family," she said.
He knelt and looked at the recording device. "Hello, Karissa's Family," he smiled, as he kissed her again.
"This is Ryan Evans," she said, as she pulled away just a bit. "Captain of the Ronin-A." She tenderly ran a hand through his hair and caressed his face. "The love of my life . . ."
Ryan caressed her face and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Mom, Dad, Josh . . . I'll talk to you later. Let me know how you all are doing."
Ryan, helped her stand, in the process showing off her tummy. He placed his hand on her there tenderly.
"Computer, end recording and send," she said.
Her arms went around his neck and played with his hair.
"So did you still want to go to the holodeck?" he asked.
"Sure!" she replied. "A little excursion, just the two of us . . . Sounds perfect . . ."
He smiled. "So what did you tell your family?"
She got a mischievous look in her eye as her smile grew bright. "What do you think I told them?"
He shook his head as he laughed.
"Dare I imagine?"