Sounds of Home

Posted on 02 Aug 2024 @ 10:50am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

2,324 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: June 19, 2390 || 2000 hours

The ship’s metal walls seemed to close in on her, echoing the fatigue that weighed on her shoulders. It had been over twenty-four hours since she last slept, and while it wasn't considered all that late as far as time went, her body and mind felt differently.

As she approached her quarters, Joey’s thoughts drifted to the chaos of her recent mission. A starbase and four support ships just gone. Just like that. And they were no closer to finding any answers now as they were hours before. It felt like a hopeless situation. One, that sadly, didn't seem like would end.

Perhaps, it was fatigue that had her thinking along those lines as she wasn't normally a pessimistic person, but this was where she was mentally. Of course, those displaced by the attack were in far worse shape, and her heart went out to them. They certainly didn't deserve the cards they were dealt, and with luck, they would eventually be able to pick up the pieces.

Joey’s fingers brushed against the cold metal door panel, and it slid open with a soft hiss. Inside, she could hear the laughter of her twin son and daughter in their bedroom as well as the barking coming from Rico. She couldn't help but let a smile tug at her lips. To be so young and carefree. To not have a worry in the world.

She bent down to pull her boots off, tossing them out of the way before she moved over to the bookshelf to pick up the tiki statue that had needed to be fixed some time back. A smile formed on her lips as she reached inside her pocket to remove what was inside, then placed them inside the hollow statue. Joey returned it to its rightful place, then made her way toward the twins bedroom where she quietly watched from the doorway.

Rico and Pequeno, as loving and mischievous as ever, were racing in circles around the bedroom much to the two toddlers delight. The way they got along and loved each other was more than she could have ever hoped for.

"Mama!"

Joey snapped out of her musings to see her son running toward her. She couldn't help herself. A smile broke out as she crouched down and opened her arms to her son. "Jameson!" She said with just as much excitement as she wrapped her arms around him. Her gaze moved to Alison as she rose to her feet, settling her son on her hip. "Mama has another hip just for you."

Alison watched her Mom for a moment before she broke out in a smile and ran to her with her arms up. The second her Mom lifted her, she wrapped her arms around her.

Joey kissed each of their temples as she headed back to the main living area where her cousin had appeared. "Thank you for keeping an eye on them today," she said.

Eden smiled. "It was my pleasure. I adore those two. As a matter of fact, gave them dinner and was starting them a bath. I can do that before I head out."

"Nonsense. You go and enjoy what's left of your evening. I can handle giving them their baths," the older Corwin said.

The younger Corwin smiled. "If you're sure you don't mind. I met a possible study buddy earlier today."

Joey grinned. "I expect details soon, now go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You will," the young woman said, giving her and the two children hugs before she gathered up her things and left.

"Now, it looks like it's just us until your Daddy gets home. Let's feed these dogs and get you two into the bath before it's time for bed."

* * *

Harvey couldn't remember the last time he was this frustrated. Such a statement was a bold one to make considering he'd been frustrated every single day since this Akira launched. First it was escorting a convoy that was reluctant to have him there. Then it was the pirate attack. And then finding the Gaittithe. And then Unity. The only real downtime was during the shakedown in the asteroid field, even though he'd spent every day worried about Joey and the two away teams.

But now, dealing with an unexpected promotions, and the ever-changing dynamics of Belvedere, Harvey found himself missing the research lab more than ever. Normally he liked a good mystery, but this had every reason for him to just walk away. Harvey knew he'd feel different in the morning, that the emotions he was feeling now were rooted entirely in exhaustion.

The doors to the family cabin opened, and Harvey could hear the muffled sounds of playtime. The dogs, still enjoying their food, barely looked up to greet him, which was fine. Harvey unzipped his jacket, but left it on as he followed the sounds of love to the bathroom. "Well, well, well," he said, smiling as he entered.

"Daddy!" Alison and Jameson called out when he made his way into the bathroom, big smiles on their little faces.

Joey, who was still wearing the majority of her own uniform, looked toward him with a smile. She was pretty soaked, but that wasn't unusual when it came to bathing two toddlers at once. "Welcome home, Daddy," she said. "You're just in time to help get jammies on and read a bedtime story or two."

"Wonderful!" Harvey declared with a smile, slipping off the uniform jacket. He wouldn't have cared if it had gotten wet, but the act also sent a solid message, Captain Geisler had clocked out, and Daddy was reporting for duty. He gave Joey a kiss on the cheek just before swooping in to launch Jameson out of the tub. "Let's get you dried off, little one."

Joey rose to her feet and reached for a towel to wrap around Alison as she lifted her from the bathtub, smiling toward father and son before she began to lead the way to the twins bedroom. "We shouldn't get too much resistance from them tonight. They've both been yawning for the last ten minutes or so. Especially Jameson."

"Daddy knows exactly how you feel," Harvey told Jameson, who both yawned at the same time. The boys followed the girls into the bedroom, and Harvey quickly put Jameson down to dry him off. "What do you think, Jameson? Straight to bed? Or do you want a bedtime story?"

The little one yawned as he replied back, "Or-rie."

Alison sat on her bed after her mother dried her off, then reluctantly settled back so Joey could dress her in the purple unicorn footed pajamas that had been laid out before bath time began. A yawn came out of nowhere as she reached to grab her favorite stuffed animal once her arms were free.

Joey finished up and helped the toddler sit back up, taking a moment to run her fingers through sandy blonde curls. "It's been a long day for all of us," she said. That made her wonder how many more of those would follow.

Jameson donned a set of green dinosaur footed pajamas. Harvey always found it humorous as here they were on the far reaches of the galaxy, and little Jameson was very attached to Earth's prehistoric era. The next time they were on Earth, a museum visit would have to be in order.

"All right then," Harvey said, handing over a small stuffed stegosaurus. "Looks like we are about ready for story time."

Joey got Alison tucked into her bed and pressed a kiss to her forehead, but found herself stepping out of the way when Rico and Pequeno made their way into the room. It tickled her that the two retired canine officers were close with her children, and even offered more protection should anyone try to be bold enough to attempt something stupid. "What story should we read tonight?"

"Nini oon," Alison said when Pequeno jumped onto her bed with her to curl up at her feet while Rico did the same on her brother's.

Jameson yawned again, not wanting to argue with his sister. It was clear that he would be asleep well before the first couple of pages had turned.

"Is that so?" Harvey asked, looking at Alison with a coy smile. "I guess I won't disappoint you then." He walked over to the bookshelf and picked up the physical copy of the book and showed it to her. "This one?"

The little girl nodded her head and yawned again.

Joey moved over to Jameson's bed to get him tucked in and pressed a kiss to his forehead, then stood upright again. "Do you have this part under control while I do a little tidying in the bathroom and living room?"

"Oh yes," Harvey remarked, positioning himself in the rocking chair at the foot of the beds. "Are you both ready to say goodnight to the moon?" he asked the twins, riffing off the classic title.

Joey kissed each toddler on their foreheads one more time before bidding them sweet dreams, then made her way from their bedroom. Her first destination on the tidy train was the bathroom. She grabbed her husband's jacket and started to put toys away, then gathered the remaining dirty clothes before moving out to the living room. After removing Harvey's combadge, she dropped the jacket and other dirty clothes on the couch to be taken care.

She began to make her way toward the desk, but stopped when something caught her attention out the corner of her eye. The collection of sea shells on the shelf near the entryway seemed to be out of place. Did one of the twins manage to climb up there and play with them? It was certainly a possibility. Especially little Jameson. She was sure he would take up climbing as a hobby at some point.

Joey moved over to the shelf to readjust the shells, but muttered a curse when she accidentally knocked the tiki statue over. She righted the pieced together keepsake and smiled at the memory of when it was gifted to her, then frowned at how it ended up broken.

Shaking that memory off, she finally moved over to the desk and took a seat, toying with the combadge in her hand. Being a Starfleet officer certainly had its burdens, but with those came some good times, too. After all, she wouldn't have met Harvey, or had their two amazing children had it not been for Starfleet. It really was a life changing experience.

Harvey joined her moments later. He hadn't been able to finish the book before both Jameson and Alison had fallen asleep. Rico was in tow, while Pequeno had fallen asleep at the foot of Alison's bed. "Remind me," he said as he entered the room, "to thank the designer of that nanny holo. I don't think bedtime's ever been this easy."

He paused, taking a look at Joey and noticed a pensive expression on her face. He hadn't seen that look often, which compelled him to immediately ask, "Is everything okay?"

Joey blinked, looking up at Harvey with a sheepish expression. She hadn't expected to be caught, and that had her slowly rising to her feet. "I'm sorry," she said, placing his combadge on the desk. "I got caught up in my thoughts. So much that I haven't even finished cleaning. Are the kids asleep?"

"They're out cold," Harvey confirmed. He remained still, his eyes again scanning his bride. "You sure everything is okay? I know the last couple of days have been an absolute hell, so it's okay if you're distracted."

Distracted was an understatement. Joey took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That's just it. The last couple of days have me wondering if any of this will ever come to an end," she said, hoping not to sound as defeated as she felt. "Whoever is responsible has covered their tracks so well, it almost seems like we're never going to discover who they are."

"All things come to an end," Harvey said, the benefit of experience weighing heavily on him. The fact that his daughter was named after his first wife was always a gentle reminder of that truth. "We dealt with the Consortium. We discovered and defeated the Dolmoqour. We can take care of this too," he said, approaching Joey to embrace her. "We get the right strategy employed and we'll be able to identify the threat and move on from there."

Joey returned his embrace without hesitation. She knew he was right, but that didn't make things any easier to deal with at present. "I know. Things just seem so... hopeless. At least right now," she said with a sigh. "I was going to wait until tomorrow, but what's the point? There wasn't anything worthwhile from the away missions. I was hopeful. I thought there would be something."

"Sounds like someone needs a good night's sleep, just like the rest of us," Harvey remarked, still holding her tight. "Fresh eyes can do a good mystery wonders."

"I think you may be right. I haven't really slept much at all in the last few days or so. I think it's finally catching up to me," she admitted softly.

He chuckled, and tried very hard to not let it turn into a belly laugh. "Sleep? I swear, based on the last few days, I feel like we got more sleep in the kids' first six months than we have in the last five days." He released her from the embrace and looked into her eyes. "C'mon. Let's hit the hay."

"I love it when you talk dirty to me," she joked with a tired smile. Joey took his hand in hers and led the way to their bedroom with only one thing in mind. Sleep. And, if they were lucky, an entire nights worth.

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