round 3 Lt Eliaan Deron - An Unorthodox Family

[Kali Nicholotti]

((Chief Medical Officer's Office - Deck 500))

::Life, Eliaan Deron had learned the hard way, had a habit of going in a

direction you could never have dreamt. When he thought back to his first

day at Starfleet Academy, he had never imagined that this was what fate had

in store for him. He would never have expected to fall in love with a

Napean doctor on a mercy mission only to have him die; he would not have

thought he'd end up serving under his friend Kali Nicholotti who he had

trained with; he never expected to fall in love with Kaedyn Tann; never

expected to leave Starfleet after the death of a patient only to return as

a science officer and be forced into Sickbay again.::

::Still, none of that was as unexpected as the sight of his partner, newly

joined to a Symbiont, with his previous host's son and mother bunking down

in his office for the night. He had been glad that Mezan had found it all

as strange as he did but had greeted him warmly. This was uncharted

territory for everyone but Eliaan loved Kaedyn and wanted to support him

during this difficult time and Kaedyn wanted to be near Jilenna's family

and to ensure they were kept safe during the emergency.::

::And so, he found himself lying on a makeshift bed on the floor of his

office staring at the ceiling trying to process everything that had

happened lately, while Kaedyn and Mezan slept on his couches and baby Janel

slept in a cot between them. The lone non-Trill among them, he felt almost

as if he were intruding,which he knew was silly since it was his office

after all. Despite this, he had no idea what Trill custom suggested in

situations like this. He knew that it was taboo for Joined Trill to carry

on romantic relationships with partners of previous hosts but could stay

friends with the friends of previous hosts. How did their society deal

with the families and particularly the young children of former hosts?::

::As he pondered these questions, sleep evaded him. He had never been

someone for who sleep came easily, when he did want to go to sleep his mind

would kick into warp speed and he'd start mulling over things deemed too

difficult to think about during the day.::

::After a long time simply staring at the ceiling, he decided to get up and

catch up on his mountain of messages. As he did so, he heard a small

whimper from the crib and, with a level of trepidation, he approached and

looked down at Janel. It was a strange feeling, he felt some

responsibility towards this child to which he had no ties and had only just

met but if Kaedyn was almost his parent then Eliaan was almost his

step-parent.::

::Janel lay in the crib wriggling, kicking his legs and whimpering a little

but not crying. He looked up at Eliaan, who glanced over his shoulder at

the two other adults in the room who were both fast asleep. He reached

into the crib and lifted him out and as he was hit by a terrible smell,

he immediately realised why Janel was unsettled.

Deron: Oh dear... Umm, okay. I can totally handle this...

::Resisting the urge to hold the infant at arm's length he walked over to

the replicator behind his desk and replicated the items he thought he

needed for the procedure. Still holding the baby, he cleared a space on

his desk and placed him gently onto it. ::

Deron: Don't worry, I'm your... Well... its complicated... but I'm a

Starfleet office so I can be trusted and a doctor so you are in safe hands.

::The baby made no response and Eliaan took that as informed consent to

have his diaper changed by this stranger.::

Deron: Okay, this can't be too difficult.

::Removing the dirty diaper and cleaning the "patient" wasn't too difficult

but as he tried to put the new diaper on he found it much more difficult

than he expected. Janel giggled as he failed for the second time to

assemble the device around the baby in a manner that both fitted and would

remain on him. This, Eliaan muttered, was ridiculous, he was able to

perform incredibly delicate surgery but he couldn't do this. The idea of

waking Kaedyn or Mezan crossed his mind but then he realised how pathetic

he would seem if he couldn't do this.::

::He made a third attempt and was incredibly relieved that it was

successful. Janel began to wriggle and compain again as he lifted him back

up and held him against his shoulder.::

Deron: ::soflty:: Shhhh shhhh shhhh

::The baby settled slightly and Eliaan began to pace back and forth, gently

bouncing him.::

Deron: I know your mommy is gone. You probably don't understand but I'm

sure you miss her. I want you to know that she hasn't gone far and she

still loves you very much.

::He smiled realising, perhaps for the first time, how precious this could

be and how strong Kaedyn must have been longing to get back to his "son".:

Deron: Things are going to be strange for a while and I don't know what's

going to happen, I'm afraid.

::The sound of his voice as he spoke softly and the slow movement back and

forth behind his desk gently lulled the infant and he began to fall

asleep.::

Deron: Don't worry though, you are surrounded by people who love you and

we'll work something out

::With Janel finally sleeping and exhaustion threatening to catch up with

him, he placed the baby back into his crib and returned to the makeshift

bed on the floor.::

Zehn: ::whispering:: Eliaan...

::Not realising Kaedyn was awake, he sat back up with a start.::

Deron: ::whispering:: Yes?

Zehn: ::whispering:: I love you

Deron: ::smiling:: Love you too

--

Lieutenant Eliaan Deron, MD

Chief Medical Officer

SB118 / USS Victory

~~and~~

Lieutenant (junior grade) Kaedyn Tann

Chief Nursing Officer

SB118 / USS Victory

on medical leave

Edited March 11, 2012 by FltAdml. Wolf
Adding Round 3 prefix.