04-29-2024, 05:17 AM
== Talion's Quarters ==
When Jez inquired about Thor, there was a soft huff sound from inside the adjacent bedroom. His large form could be seen hopping down from where he had been relaxing on top of Reyna's bed. He then slowly strolled over and nudged Jez with the side of his big head.
When Jez asked Alex her question, Alex stopped raising his cup as it was half way to taking another sip. His brain insisted that she had already asked him this question the night before, so he had to presume that she had been so upset and that her thoughts were so confused that she didn't recall. This was verified by the fact that the emotions she was broadcasting were extremely mixed and there was a buzz of confusing and conflicting thoughts in the air that he had to make a deliberate effort to tune out.
He finally took that sip of life sustaining beverage and then replied, "Yes, of course. We might want to try and get in there before the morning gets too busy. I also don't know what sort of meetings might try to call me away. This is something that should be an acceptable walk-in at morning Sick-Call hours. They have procedures to follow and you just need to be prepared for the decisions they're going to present you with. I want to warn you though, that it will also be up to the Captain to decide if you will be allowed to remain on the ship, once they confirm you're pregnant. I'm willing to put latinum on the fact that you're not going to be kicked off the ship, but it is always an option that they might want to leave you on the base and request a replacement for you. Children might not be a problem on the ship, but having an officer that can't do their duties on a ship can be a problem, especially when we're going to not be 100% manned right out of the dock."
Alex wagged a finger and added, "Your Department Head is NOT going to be happy about this surprise either. You might not think that's your fault, but it is. Given the availability of control over your reproductive habits and choices these days, there is no reason that this should be a surprise to you right now. Your failure to plan for this event is on you. The best you can do with that little fact is to accept it now and just roll with it. Your Chain of Command is not going to want to hear excuses and sob stories. They're going to be hearing about a problem that you're informing them about and the best thing you can do to soften that blow is to tell them what your plan is or how willing you are to try and make it as little of their problem as possible. Right now, they're expecting you to show up for a shift and be the muscle that is going to protect the crew of this ship. You're about to upset that plan in a very big way. Don't expect them to be happy about that. Fortunately, most people are still happy about baby stuff if you're happy about baby stuff, but I'm not getting near that crazy interactive hysteria."
Reyna didn't look up from what she was reading, but wrinkled her nose and commented, "How can you NOT know you were getting pregnant? The process is pretty hard to misunderstand."
Alex looked at his daughter and cleared his throat. Reyna paused a second before saying, "What I meant to say was, have a wonderful day."
Alex then looked at Jez and stood to put on his jacket and make himself look more official and less relaxed, "Good luck with reading your way into parenthood. I can tell you that NOTHING you read is going to actually prepare you for the real thing. There is always the theoretical side and then there is the practical application side. The two are often very different in reality."
== Tag Jez ==
When Jez inquired about Thor, there was a soft huff sound from inside the adjacent bedroom. His large form could be seen hopping down from where he had been relaxing on top of Reyna's bed. He then slowly strolled over and nudged Jez with the side of his big head.
When Jez asked Alex her question, Alex stopped raising his cup as it was half way to taking another sip. His brain insisted that she had already asked him this question the night before, so he had to presume that she had been so upset and that her thoughts were so confused that she didn't recall. This was verified by the fact that the emotions she was broadcasting were extremely mixed and there was a buzz of confusing and conflicting thoughts in the air that he had to make a deliberate effort to tune out.
He finally took that sip of life sustaining beverage and then replied, "Yes, of course. We might want to try and get in there before the morning gets too busy. I also don't know what sort of meetings might try to call me away. This is something that should be an acceptable walk-in at morning Sick-Call hours. They have procedures to follow and you just need to be prepared for the decisions they're going to present you with. I want to warn you though, that it will also be up to the Captain to decide if you will be allowed to remain on the ship, once they confirm you're pregnant. I'm willing to put latinum on the fact that you're not going to be kicked off the ship, but it is always an option that they might want to leave you on the base and request a replacement for you. Children might not be a problem on the ship, but having an officer that can't do their duties on a ship can be a problem, especially when we're going to not be 100% manned right out of the dock."
Alex wagged a finger and added, "Your Department Head is NOT going to be happy about this surprise either. You might not think that's your fault, but it is. Given the availability of control over your reproductive habits and choices these days, there is no reason that this should be a surprise to you right now. Your failure to plan for this event is on you. The best you can do with that little fact is to accept it now and just roll with it. Your Chain of Command is not going to want to hear excuses and sob stories. They're going to be hearing about a problem that you're informing them about and the best thing you can do to soften that blow is to tell them what your plan is or how willing you are to try and make it as little of their problem as possible. Right now, they're expecting you to show up for a shift and be the muscle that is going to protect the crew of this ship. You're about to upset that plan in a very big way. Don't expect them to be happy about that. Fortunately, most people are still happy about baby stuff if you're happy about baby stuff, but I'm not getting near that crazy interactive hysteria."
Reyna didn't look up from what she was reading, but wrinkled her nose and commented, "How can you NOT know you were getting pregnant? The process is pretty hard to misunderstand."
Alex looked at his daughter and cleared his throat. Reyna paused a second before saying, "What I meant to say was, have a wonderful day."
Alex then looked at Jez and stood to put on his jacket and make himself look more official and less relaxed, "Good luck with reading your way into parenthood. I can tell you that NOTHING you read is going to actually prepare you for the real thing. There is always the theoretical side and then there is the practical application side. The two are often very different in reality."
== Tag Jez ==