The party for the twins was already in full swing. Though the day was cool and crisp and the leaves were falling off the trees in the backyard, it didn't dampen spirits any. In fact, there was a jumper for the kids to play in, some games that had been set up and the grill was going. Not only were hotdogs and hamburgers being cooked, but hot cocoa was being made, and there were marshmallows for roasting later.
On a table in the back was also a beautiful cake decorated with cats, since the twins loved felines of all types. There was also punch for those that didn't want cocoa.
Several people were already there. Karissa and William had welcomed her parents and Joshan, Summer McCairn and her daughter Kaylee. They had also welcomed Nathan who had managed to show up for the party though he couldn't stay for long, and of course, Shara was there.
Suddenly, Amalie walked in with two more people.
"Look who else has arrived," she announced with a smile.
"River! Brent!" Karissa replied. "Great to see both of you!"
"We brought the little ones gifts," he said.
"Those go into the living room for now," she smiled.
"I'll take care of it," Brent said as he smiled at River. "You go have some fun."
River smiled, gave him a peck on the cheek and started running toward the kids, picking up Luc and swinging him around.
Suddenly, the door chime was heard again.
"I'll get it," William said, as he kissed Karissa before disappearing inside, letting her watch the grill.
Danayal, Jaya and Tyran waited patiently. Tyran smiling though Danayal hid half behind them. He did not like crowds of any size.
"It'll be all right," Jaya assured him.
Suddenly, the door opened. "Ah, you must be Tyran!" William greeted. "Karissa mentioned you'd be coming and bringing a couple of people. Welcome!" he smiled.
"Thank you, the pleasure is ours; this is my girlfriend Jaya Bourne, and that shy, handsome, young man there is River's boyfriend, Danayal Bergman." He said grinning as Danayal blushed.
"Ah!" Will smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you all. Come in . . . Everyone's out back, though gifts are being left there," he said pointing to a growing pile on a coffee table in the front room. "I'm sure Karissa will be delighted to see you all."
"Thank you." He said. "Bethany Mortak and another of her friends will come down as soon as they can. I understand they are on their way."
They entered the room and left the gifts on the table.
As Will returned to the grill, he whispered to Karissa, who immediately smiled and turned toward the new arrivals. "Hello there!" she greeted. "It's good to see you, Danayal . . . Tyran . . . Whose this?" she asked looking at Jaya.
"This is my girlfriend Jaya Bourne." Tyran introduced. "Jaya, this is Karissa Bentara, a friend of Danayal and I."
"Hello, Jaya. Welcome," Karissa smiled as she extended her hand in greeting.
"Thank you," Jaya replied, taking the offered hand.
But almost instantly, the women each knew the other was telepathic and empathic.
"You're Tanzaran?" Karissa asked.
"And you're not?" Jaya replied.
"No, my background is a bit more complicated," Karissa replied. "Your gifts are quite strong."
"So are yours," Jaya replied with a hint of a smile.
But before more could be said, River ran up and hugged Danayal around his waist from behind, causing him to turn toward her.
"HI!" she said, her dark eyes shining brightly.
"River!" Danayal smiled and hugged her, then in the middle of the room he kissed her.
Tyran laughed when he saw that.
"I'm so glad you were able to make it today! The twins are looking so forward to seeing you too!" River said excitedly, loving the feel of his arms around her and the feel of his kiss still on her lips.
Suddenly, Brent came up. "And whose this, River?" he asked with an amused smile, having never seen his little sister carry on with a boy before. He could see how happy she was.
"Uh, I'm Danayal Bergman... and you must be her brother right? You look like each other."
He smiled. "Brent," he replied. "Brent Sage. It's good to meet you. I don't think I've ever seen River so happy . . "
"I told you you'd like him," River said smiling at her brother but not moving from Danayal's arms.
"And indeed I do!" Brent replied. "I hope you and I will have a chance to get to know one another better."
"Would be fun, I don't have many friends, and why do I have the feeling you set me up to meet him, River?" His eyes sparkled. He wasn't the least bit angry.
"Because . . . If you like me you have to like my brother," she replied brightly. "We're sort of a package deal. Right, Brent?"
He just smiled and laughed. Before he could reply the twins had seen Danayal and come running.
"Danayal! Danayal!" Luc called.
"You come to play?" Maya asked excitedly. "Come jump!" She insisted grabbing his hand and pulling on him.
"Alright, slow it down you two! I just got here!" he said grinning, followed them to the jumper.
River followed close behind.
"River and Danayal make a good couple," Karissa replied. "They've both been good for each other."
"I've seen that," Brent replied.
"They seem to bring out things in the other that otherwise would be hidden," Jaya replied, with her own practiced eye.
"You know people, don't you?" Karissa asked, though sensing the woman was no counselor.
"You might say I do a lot of people watching," Jaya replied with a smirk. "Your kids are beautiful," she said as she watched the twins.
Karissa could see the longing in her eyes. "You've had children," she said. There was no doubt about it."
Jaya smiled softly, but didn't meet Karissa's eyes. "In another life, I had a daughter."
The doorbell rang again; Bethany was waiting together with her young friend, Rachel Peters. "Seems there are a lot of people here, huh? Judging by the noise."
Rachel smiled brightly. "That means more kids to play with!"
"Yeah, you can say that again." Bethany smiled herself.
Suddenly, the door opened and they were greeted by Dr. Ryan Bentara, Karissa's father, and the twins' grandfather. "Welcome, you two," he smiled. "The party's well underway. Come in and have some fun."
Rachel saw where the presents were being put and took hers and Bethany's to the table and put them down in the pile then returned to Bethany side.
"Why don't we go out back to play?" Bethany said smiling. "I heard all the other kids are there too, come on."
In moments, the two were out in the backyard and immediately, the two joined the fray. Ryan laughed as he watched the kids, young and old, engage in a game of tag around the yard. River jumped into the jumper to escape a tag from Luc.
Danayal laughed, he was having fun and felt like a kid again. Despite being large of build, Bethany was one of the most difficult to tag.
The adults were having so much fun just watching the kids, as Kaylee tagged Maya, only to get tagged by Rachel - They almost hated to announce the food was ready.
Danayal avoided a tag by Kaylee, but then he didn't look where he was going and tripped over a stone. He hit the groundl rather hard.
All motion stopped as River ran to him. "Oh my god! Danayal!"
Shara and Karissa ran up to him as well.
"I'm fine." He sat up, but felt his wrist throb. They could see it was in a strange angle, and broken...
"Don't move it," Shara said softly.
"Will!" Karissa called out, as he stepped forward. "It's broken."
"I can see that," he replied, stepping closer to Danayal. "Come with me, I have something here that will get that fixed up . . . There are certain benefits to being a doctor," he smiled, leading Danayal back into the house.
Shara looked on worried. "I'll go with him."
"It's all right, kids. He'll be okay . . ." Amalie said. "Dr. Hancock will fix him up in no time."
Jaya looked at Tyran. Her green eyes reflected her own concern.
"Don't worry, that's his weak spot. This is the 5th time he's broken it." He looked at Karissa. "I'll go with him though." He followed Will and his foster son.
Karissa looked to Jaya. "You care a great deal for Danayal and Tyran, don't you?"
Jaya looked at Karissa and smiled. "You could say that."
"I just did," Karissa smiled.
Jaya laughed.
"I also know that you're not who you're pretending to be," Karissa replied. "I can sense that."
Jaya's eyes widened. "Just what do you know?" she asked softly, gazing around at the crowd for a moment.
"I know enough to know that you're not independently wealthy. That you are a consultant of sorts, but not the type anyone suspects . . That you have a separate identity that you cannot discuss and that places you in danger . . ."
"No one has ever been able to read me like that," she said softly.
"I'm not everyone," Karissa replied. "But don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me."
Jaya was silent for a moment. "That's good . . because the wrong word to the wrong person and a lot of people could get hurt."
Karissa nodded. "The same could be said about me at the moment, in regards to Danayal . . ."
"I wouldn't dream of saying anything. With you, he's making tremendous progress."
Karissa smiled. "I do my best to help... You know, if you ever need anyone to talk to yourself . . ."
"It's a generous offer, but I can't . . "
Suddenly, the sound of Kaylee laughing got their attention. Rachel was standing by one of the tables, an open container in her hands. She was completely covered in silly string. Rachel then started laughing herself after her initial shock. Then others joined in too.
"I want one of those!" Joshan said, grabbing another container.
Tyran followed Danayal and the doctor to a room that seemed to double as an office. Danayal could feel his wrist painfully throb more than it had in the garden, which made him feel a bit taken off guard.
"Just have a seat right here," Will said as he guided the young man into a chair. "I always keep things around the house in case of emergencies like this," he said opening a drawer and pulling out a hypospray and a bone knitter. "This should do the trick." He pulled up another chair and sat across from Danayal. "This is just a pain reliever. There's nothing in it that can sedate you . . . so you won't miss much of the party," he smiled.
"I know how it works; this is the fifth time for that wrist already. Weak point I guess... ouch!"
"Sorry," Will said as he maneuvered the wrist into position, after injecting the pain reliever into the common artery in the young man's neck.
"How's the patient?" came a voice from around the corner. It was Shara, as she gazed at them with concern.
"He'll be all right once I get this bone mended a bit, though it'll be sore for a day or two."
Danayal sighed. "Is there nothing that can be done?" The bone structure in his wrist was weakened because of his extensive past drug use.
"I could prescribe some medication that's been helpful for bone strengthening. But activity and a healthy diet are the best treatments . . Plenty of calcium as well in the diet."
"Meaning more chicken and eggs and such?" He grinned; he loved that kind of food, now that he was eating more regularly.
"Yes, and milk, cheese, yogurt . . . fruit juice . . . and there we go; mended."
"Thanks, I hope this is the last time that rotten wrist breaks." He got up and looked at Shara. He said nothing, but he was not mad with her anymore. He just didn't know what to say.
Shara raised an eyebrow at Will and then followed Danayal. "So . . . how are you doing?" she asked gently, feeling no anger in him.
"A lot better than the last time we met."
She smiled. "I'm glad to hear that," she replied. "I'd heard from Karissa that you'd met her and the twins at the park."
"Yeah, I did." he said grinning
"I'm glad," she smiled. "If nothing else, the twins are fun."
"And so is River. and. I just know I'm not mad anymore, I mean... I just. was... I dunno, I."
"It's okay . . . You were angry at the moment. I understand," she replied. "I haven't held it against you . . ." She smiled.
"So... we can be friends again?" He asked with a gentle smile.
Shara smiled brightly. "We've always been friends. That never changed," she replied, her eyes sparkling brightly.
"I'm glad, I mean I was not the most friendly person." He smiled and looked relieved.
"That's okay. I understood you were just angry because of what happened. You weren't really mad at me . . . Well . . . I image you weren't that mad at me once you settled down a bit.
He sighed. "I wish I was 17, not 18... I mean... because of the restrictions that come with my age... why am I a grown up for the court while others say you are an adult at age 21..."
Shara shrugged. "I don't know . . . It's just the way the laws work. Unfortunately it's one of those things I don't really understand myself. And of course, the 21 is really only good for humans. They have to adjust it for other species."
"Why am I human? Why am I not a Klingon? They don't do drugs... and are scared of no one."
Shara sighed softly. "Well . . . Sometimes we have to learn to adopt the qualities we see in others that we like . . . It's not always easy, but it can be done. I mean, I wasn't always a nice person..."
"You weren't? Really?" He said with a measure of disbelief.
She laughed gently. "Before I met Karissa, I was . . . well . . . I was not a nice person at all. I didn't get along with others very well. I was transferred three times in three years because of it. It took Karissa convincing me I could be someone other than the person I was. Well, that, and she kicked my ass in the meantime also kicking some sense into me."
He rolled his eyes. "And you are in security? Well, no one with a sane mind would want me in Starfleet Academy anyway; I guess... too large a criminal record to be admitted there. At least that's what Tyran says."
"Well, I think if you really cleaned up your act and you put in effort they could overlook the past and give you a chance. But it's a lot of work, a lot of structure . . . and you have to be dedicated. At least I had those things in my favor. As much as no one liked my attitude, they didn't want to get rid of me completely because I knew what I was doing. In fact, I was and am considered one of the best in the field. Hard to believe, huh?" she smirked.
"No, not really... I just think I'm more suited to being a bartender than some low ranked officer on a starship or here on Serenity."
She smiled. "I think you'll be a very good bartender," she replied with a smile.
Suddenly Karissa came in. "And how's the patient?" she asked.
"Healed up." Danayal said. "I tripped and fell on a piece of stone. no harm done. Hope I didn't scare the kids."
"They were worried, but Luc and Maya were the ones that announced you were okay to everyone. Of course the others believe them because they know Luc and Maya are telepathic and empathic."
He smiled gently. "Good, then at least that's alright. and Shara and I are friends again. That was the other thing you wanted to know, right?"
Karissa smiled. "I knew you wouldn't stay angry with her," she said. "Come on, we're just about ready to have cake. You'll love watching the twins get all messy! Oh and River's anxious to see you too."
"And so am I, kid..." Tyran stepped up to them.
"I'm fine..." Danayal smiled when Tyran hugged him.
"This fool needs an operation, but he refuses it. One of his bones needs to be reinforced... at least that's what Dr. Sebastian says," Tyran added.
"Well, I can give him some medication to help strengthen his bones in the meantime. I've already told him that. I'll forward the recommendation to Dr. Sebastian."
"Is... is that operation really needed? I'm asking. for a second opinion here.." Danayal said hesitantly.
"Well, it would keep that wrist from breaking again so easily," Will replied. "It would help you tremendously."
"Thanks for telling him," Tyran said. "So you see, Dan, Dom is right. It's needed. Please say yes tomorrow if Dominic asks again."
Danayal sighed but knew he could no longer deny it. It had to be done.
"If you want, I can be there when it's done," Shara offered, wanting him to know she'd be there to support him.
"If you won't feel offended, I rather have Tyran and River..."
Shara laughed. "If I were you, I'd prefer River there myself." With that she patted his back. "We better go see what trouble the twins are up to, though."
"And you can fill River in," Karissa added.
"You bet I will..." Danayal made his way to her, as fast as he could. Tyran shook his head with a smile. "Thanks for the help. He's needed that operation for more than a year now. Only he's too stubborn to see it."
Will smiled. "I see a lot of patients like that," he smiled as they walked outside to see Joshan pushing Rachel on the swing; Bethany and Kaylee jumping in the jumper with the twins as Summer watched nearby and River, Danayal and Brent chatting together. Ryan and Amalie watched the kids with contented smiles on their face.
"We'd better set up the cake," Karissa replied pecking Will's cheek with a kiss. He smiled and followed her. Together they placed candles on the cake and lit them. Everyone stopped talking and playing and gathered near the cake. Danayal and River picked up the twins and held them near the cake.
Everyone sang Happy Birthday.
"Okay, make a wish, you two," Shara said with a smile, as Will and Amalie took pictures. The twins scrunched up their eyes for a moment, then looked at each other and nodded.
"Now blow out the candles!" Karissa said, her dark eyes shining.
Together they blew out the little flames.
"Our wish come true?" Maya asked.
"You'll have to wait and see," Will replied with a smile.
"Cake everyone," Karissa said as she immediately began cutting and serving.
"Yes, cake. one of my favorite words! I want a large piece!" Danayal grinned as Tyran smiled.
"I want some as well, and so do others so you can't eat that whole thing alone this time, Dan!" Tyran teased.
"Aw shucks!" Danayal grinned.
River and Jaya laughed. After cake, Jaya went to Rachel and played with her, swinging her on the swings and twirling her around. As Karissa came up to Tyran she watched Jaya intently.
"She feels connected to Rachel, doesn't she?" Karissa asked. "Rachel reminds her of the daughter she once had."
"Yes, Emily..." Tyran said softly. "She loves Rachel very much. I do hope we will have kids someday, although I'm not sure it's possible for an El Aurian and a Tanzaran."
Karissa smiled. "Life finds a way," she replied. "See my twins? They weren't supposed to survive. Neither was I . . . But here we all are," she replied.
"Yeah, I'm happy you have them, and I think we can adopt children if there are no chances for us. But maybe the medical knowledge is better since the last time I married, since humans and El Aurians don't match."
"Trust me, medicine has made leaps and bounds," she replied. "If they hadn't, I would be dead . . . It was Will and another friend of mine whose a Science Officer that managed to save my life . . . See, when I was . . . created, for lack of a better word, my creator saw to it that I had a failsafe. If I were to get pregnant, my body would shut down . . . far enough into my pregnancy, that's what happened. I almost died . . . But because of them, they found out what the failsafe was and were able to counteract it, so I would bet there's a good chance any problems between your two species are fixable."
"One might hope, yes..." He said with a soft smile. "I wonder how Danayal would react to me marrying Jaya, and having a child..."
Karissa smiled and focused her mind for a moment. "He likes Jaya . . . though, I think at the moment he's a little frightened of her . . he knows more than you think, but not enough . . ."
"What does he know?" Tyran suddenly looked concerned.
"Nothing for certain," she replied. "But he's overheard things . . . and he does listen to the news as well . . . Eventually you both may have to entrust him with the truth."
"Yes. He isn't stupid... I feared as much..."
"Well, there's no danger yet, and he has enough to deal with at the moment," she replied.
"Today he seems to be alright... he laughs and plays around. but tomorrow... Dominic will come back again."
"Well, River can always stop by . . . and if you don't mind, I can let her bring the twins . . . Only because I have a full schedule tomorrow."
"Sure, they can come, although Danayal will be alone at home then. I'm working in the bar tomorrow."
"Between him and River, I'm sure they can handle them," she replied.
"Yeah and I have a yard as well. The twins can play there. and there are games in the house."
"Perfect!" Karissa replied. "I think if he's sufficiently distracted with happy things, the tests will become less of a burden to him."
"Yeah, he hates them. This will help a lot..." He eyed Danayal and River who were eating and talking quietly together.
Karissa smiled as he saw his gaze, then it returned back to Jaya. "You know, for the first time in a very long time, I sense that Jaya feels as if she's part of life. Not merely skirting its edges."
"Yeah, you can say that. She changed my life a great deal for the better as well, I knew she was meant for me as soon as she entered my bar... sometimes I just know these things. I would rather die than lose her."
"She feels the same," Karissa replied.
Suddenly arms went around her waist. "Do you say it's time for presents, my dear?" Will asked as she turned to him. He kissed her tenderly.
"Are the twins excited about the gifts?" she asked.
"You could say that," he replied. "We can't seem to keep them away from the table."
Karissa laughed. "Then I suppose we'd better let them open them."
"I'll let the others know to help round everyone up."
"I guess we should start heading inside," Karissa said as she watched Will walk off and start calling to everyone.
Danayal, River and Tyran went inside, followed by Bethany and a bunch of kids. They waited to see if the twins liked what they got.
Soon all the presents were opened and the twins were delighted with everything, including the boxes! Jaya was holding Rachel in her lap as everyone began leaving.
"I guess it's time to get going, Kiddo," Jaya said softly as she helped Rachel up and caressed her face.
"When do I get to see you again?" she asked.
Jaya smiled, loved hearing those words. "Maybe tomorrow night. You are going to the Masquerade, right?"
"Yes!" she smiled brightly.
"So am I," Jaya replied.
"Cool!" Rachel said and hugged her.
"Come on, Rachel. I have to get you home," Bethany said.
Reluctantly, Rachel left with her friend.
"And we have to leave as well. I have to relieve Sarah. It was a pleasure..." Tyran said, watching River and Danayal say their goodbyes. Sometimes life was good, he thought.
Soon everyone was gone except family. Amalie and Ryan were rocking the twins as they played with some of their new toys, Joshan was on the floor reading one of their new books, Shara was helping clean up with Will, and Karissa sighed with a happy smile. It had been a long day, but a good one . . It had been a very Happy Birthday in deed.
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