Everything was finally put away, the job was started and going smoothly. Life was getting back into a normal swing, Karissa thought. It was time to send a message home.
She checked on the twins who were sitting on the living room floor playing quietly with each other and giggling as they smashed toys into one another. She then went to the comm. and began her visual message. She knew her parents had been concerned about the transfer and how she would react to it. After all, they knew how hard it had been to make the decision to leave the Ronin behind.
"Hi, Mom, Dad, Josh. I'm sending you this, so that you know Will and I are finally settled into our new home in Serenity City. We both started our new assignments at the Medical Facility and I have to say, the office I have now, is the best office I think I've ever had!" she said as her dark eyes sparkled. "It's a good size with comfortable furniture. I need to bring in a few things to give it a warm feel, but it really is nice, and it has a spectacular view. I don't think I could have wished for more as far as a work environment goes. Then Will started as the Chief Medical Officer here, as you know. His office is pretty nice too, though it also needs a touch of color and some knickknacks or photos or something to give it a personal touch. What's really nice, is I ran into an friend who works here too. You might have heard me mention him before. His name is Nathan Fletcher, he's also a doctor. Well, surgeon really. He's very good at what he does, just like Will," she smiled. It was obvious how much she loved William. Her eyes sparkled at she spoke about him. "Anyway, everything is put away and the house is wonderful! I love it. The kids have extra room and there are parks all over the place. But there's this one park in particular that has a water fountain that the kids can play in when it's warm. Serenity really is a nice place and I'm very glad that I decided to take this transfer. I know you were all worried about me, and you knew what a struggle it was for me to leave the Ronin, how part of me wanted to stay and hang onto a painful memory. But I also knew that the only way for me to really fully start living again was to give myself space from that. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I've had to make, but it was well worth it. Now Luc and Maya will grow up with fresh air... real sunlight." She smiled. "And a mother that, in a lot of ways, is happier and can talk about their other father without... breaking down into tears. I'm finally starting to look back on my time with Ryan and not feel only pain at his loss. I can smile again, remembering the good things. But if it hadn't been for Will... I would probably still be on the Ronin and miserable. He has done so much to help me through this. I really wish you guys were here to meet him in person, and to see the twins! They're growing so fast! Luc, Maya, come here, sweeties," she called.
Immediately, Luc and Maya dropped their toys and went to their mother, climbing into her lap. "Grandma and Grandpa!" Maya said as she waved. "Hi!"
"Hi, hi, hi!" Luc said with a giggle. "Love you, Grandma, Grandpa. Love you, Josh!"
"Love you, Josh!" Maya said. "When can we play? We want to play with Josh!"
Karissa smiled. "Well, the twins for having never met you miss you a lot, as you can tell. Maybe we'll have to arrange for you all to visit now that we're planet-side."
"Come see us!" Luc said. "Wanna see you!" His brown eyes sparkled.
Karissa laughed, but turned as she heard the door. William was just walking in. As he saw everyone at the comm, he smiled. "What's going on here?" he asked.
"It's a note to my family back on Earth," she smiled. "Say hi." She smiled brightly and kissed him as he leaned over toward her.
"Hello, Karissa's family," he smiled. "Have I told you how much I love your daughter?"
Karissa laughed softly and kissed him again. "And I want to show them how much I love you." She caressed his face and kissed him again.
Will blushed a bit as Luc and Maya giggled. "Momma and Daddy kissing!"
"Well, I was thinking we could take the kids and go out to dinner," he said with a grin, "As soon as you're done with this message."
"Oh, I think I'm done," she smiled. "I miss you guys! Love you! I hope to hear from you soon, but as you heard, I'm getting dinner out, so I'll talk to you later. Bye!"
"Bye, bye! Bye, bye!" the twins said as they waved.
Quickly she sent the message, carefully put the twins down and stood up, twining her arms around Will's neck. "So where are we going to go?"
He smiled. "There's an Italian place not too far away, I thought we'd try. I know how much the kids like spaghetti."
Luc and Maya clapped excitedly.
Karissa laughed. "I guess they like that choice."
"I think they do," William replied. "Come, let's go," he said holding out his hands. Maya took one hand as Karissa took the other, Luc holding onto mom's hand. As a family, they left for the restaurant.
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