a day with her son (IN SPACE)--six impossible things meme (for unqualified_dr)
"He's gotten so big, Leo."
He runs a gentle hand through her hair for the dozenth time, her head resting heavily on his chest. A nod is all she gets in reply, because they both know; they both understand.
"I've been watching him grow, those calls back home, but I haven't seen him in years, and I didn't expect how big he got." Lenore smiles into the fabric of Leonard's shirt. "He's gonna be a fine man someday. I can't even call him my little Jo anymore. It doesn't fit him. Or it won't for long."
"But things went okay?" he prompts quietly, concerned.
"Yeah. Things went beautifully."
***
"Mom!"
She was waiting for tears to spring up for her to quickly try and hide away, but she found herself simply full of a deep joy. It would come later, then, of that she was certain. Crouching down low, the boy, all of ten years old, flung himself into open, waiting arms.
"Jonas, you are so big," she stated with a grunt as she hefted him up. "I hardly recognize you at all!"
"Mom," he whined, but with that playful, childish humor kids always seemed to lose around their teen years, "you saw me a couple months ago."
"You know what I mean." She hesitated in setting him back down when the other guest stepped from the shuttle, so the look that passed between them went unseen. But release him she eventually did, and he went skipping to the man's side. "Evening, Joss."
"Lenore."
"Where's Claire?"
Joss shifted awkwardly on his feet, nudging Jonas forward with a hand. "Go see what's keeping your mother."
"My other mother," Jonas declared, though he wandered back into the shuttle, dodging other tourists on their way out as he did so.
It was simply by pure luck--good or bad was yet to be decided--that the Treadways happened to be vacationing at the same place at the same time as shore leave for the Enterprise crew. A few tentative messages had been sent back and forth, and it was agreed that they should meet. Len hadn't seen any of the family in the flesh for four years now, only the occasional video feed and communique to let them know either side was still alive and well. The farther out the ship got, the harder it was to communicate. And now here they were. Joss, his new wife (an old acquaintance of theirs), and the kid.
"He still tends to call her just Claire after all this time. At least he grew out of calling her 'auntie' during the first year." Joss came to stand by her, though knowing well enough to keep a respectful distance. "You're still quite the influence."
"I have no idea why that could possibly be. I'm only his mother and the one that raised him for the first six years of his life."
His surprising response was simply, "All right." Not even one argument or protest. It was unexpected. Would all parties involved actually be able to remain more or less civil to each other during this trip? It was hard to imagine.
Claire emerged, hefting a large bag and being dragged along by a little hand. Her smile was, like everything about this meeting, awkward and perhaps a little bit forced. Lenore McCoy and Claire Darnell had, once upon a time, gotten along much like sisters, until it was discovered that the latter was sleeping with the former's husband.
Somehow she always found herself more angry at Joss than she could ever be at Claire. But then again, she also hadn't spoken to the woman since the marriage, a mutual silence between them.
The adults and child walked along, small talking their way through the spaceport terminal, asking all the usual, expected questions. Where are you staying. How long. What brings you this way. How's life been treating you. Mostly short, hollow answers, never hitting upon any sore spots if possible, up until the point where Jonas stopped and stood in front of them, arms crossed, defiant-looking, explaining that he would like to spend some of his vacation with his mother.
Joss, as expected, was vehemently opposed to the idea initially, a stern no, not a chance, not in a million years, keep dreaming. What Len didn't expect was for Claire to calmly place a hand on his arm and say, "Baby, it's her son. Give them some time."
That was how Lenore got to spend the day with the son she hadn't seen in the flesh for four years.
***
"Time moves so fast," she notices idly while he listens. "There was so much we could've done or wanted to do...or say, but there just aren't enough hours. One minute, I'm in surgery trying to piece together some poor ensign caught in a crossfire; the next, I'm discovering new lifeforms on unexplored planets; the next, I've got my son; the next, I'm saying goodbye to him."
"That's just the way it goes. You could've been unlucky, you know. It was good that you just happened to have shore leave there that day. You could've missed him. You wouldn't have wanted that, would you?"
She sighs as she wraps her arms around his waist, silently wishing he could be her Leo in that moment so it wouldn't be weird to kiss him. "No, of course not."
***
Ice cream was the first item on the menu that Jonas demanded. They sat in a park under a gold-tinted sky and a tree with too few branches to be much cover from the sun. "Are they treating you okay?" It seemed a stupid thing to ask. If Joss or Claire ever mistreated Jonas, and Len found out, there would not be a power in the universe that could stop her. But she felt the need to ask it anyway, glancing down at him over her cone of chocolate mocha chunk.
Jonas nodded, careful not to knock over the minty concoction he was licking inadvertently. "We don't get to spend as much time together as we used to because of school and them working all day, but it's okay."
"Just okay?"
"It's good, mom."
"Okay."
"Dad helps me with math after supper. They take turns cooking, but Claire isn't very good at it."
She smirked. "And you're saying dad is?"
"He's gotten better. But your lasagna was still always the best. Hey, can we go to the museum?"
She'd already been there a few days before when they first arrived at the planet, full of alien culture and art and history, but she took him anyway and took in his marveled expression, nodding as he pointed out this and that. He was extremely impressed with the extra knowledge she could impart on him about certain cultures and peoples that she'd actually met. They talked about what it was like to live and work in space, especially since she hated flying so much. He asked about the captain, and he tried to get her to take him up to the ship for just one quick tour, which she would not let herself get wheedled into.
***
Leo snorts. "Everyone would probably spoil him rotten, anyway."
***
Then it was a whirlwind, trying to fit as much in as they could. "You won't leave anything to do with your dad at this rate." Visiting the boardwalk at the beach, wasting a little money on tourist trap gifts that he wanted, windowshopping downtown in the city proper, wherever it struck them to go, they went, until they ended up back at her hotel room and flopped on the bed. They put on a movie, not paying much attention to what it was, talking more. About school, about daily life, about whatever.
He curled up against her, the sun having long since gone down and the moonless night punctuated by stars out the window, sleeping. She was content to leave him like that, except she knew that she had to get him back to Joss and Claire. Needed to get him back and needed to start packing afterwards, as shore leave ended the next day. Reluctantly, she roused him. Their goodbye was short and simple, with promises to call, and even promises (from Jo, anyway) that they'd see each other again, for longer, with more fun. And that was that.
***
"Sounds like a good time."
She nods a little numbly.
"He'd better keep that promise."
Another nod.
"Lenore." At that, she twists a little, looking up at him. "It'll be okay. The kid's in good hands, and you left him with some good, fresh memories of the mother he clearly still loves. You did good, Len. It'll be okay."
A little smile makes its way back onto her face, settling back down onto Leo. "He'd better keep that promise."
He runs a gentle hand through her hair for the dozenth time, her head resting heavily on his chest. A nod is all she gets in reply, because they both know; they both understand.
"I've been watching him grow, those calls back home, but I haven't seen him in years, and I didn't expect how big he got." Lenore smiles into the fabric of Leonard's shirt. "He's gonna be a fine man someday. I can't even call him my little Jo anymore. It doesn't fit him. Or it won't for long."
"But things went okay?" he prompts quietly, concerned.
"Yeah. Things went beautifully."
***
"Mom!"
She was waiting for tears to spring up for her to quickly try and hide away, but she found herself simply full of a deep joy. It would come later, then, of that she was certain. Crouching down low, the boy, all of ten years old, flung himself into open, waiting arms.
"Jonas, you are so big," she stated with a grunt as she hefted him up. "I hardly recognize you at all!"
"Mom," he whined, but with that playful, childish humor kids always seemed to lose around their teen years, "you saw me a couple months ago."
"You know what I mean." She hesitated in setting him back down when the other guest stepped from the shuttle, so the look that passed between them went unseen. But release him she eventually did, and he went skipping to the man's side. "Evening, Joss."
"Lenore."
"Where's Claire?"
Joss shifted awkwardly on his feet, nudging Jonas forward with a hand. "Go see what's keeping your mother."
"My other mother," Jonas declared, though he wandered back into the shuttle, dodging other tourists on their way out as he did so.
It was simply by pure luck--good or bad was yet to be decided--that the Treadways happened to be vacationing at the same place at the same time as shore leave for the Enterprise crew. A few tentative messages had been sent back and forth, and it was agreed that they should meet. Len hadn't seen any of the family in the flesh for four years now, only the occasional video feed and communique to let them know either side was still alive and well. The farther out the ship got, the harder it was to communicate. And now here they were. Joss, his new wife (an old acquaintance of theirs), and the kid.
"He still tends to call her just Claire after all this time. At least he grew out of calling her 'auntie' during the first year." Joss came to stand by her, though knowing well enough to keep a respectful distance. "You're still quite the influence."
"I have no idea why that could possibly be. I'm only his mother and the one that raised him for the first six years of his life."
His surprising response was simply, "All right." Not even one argument or protest. It was unexpected. Would all parties involved actually be able to remain more or less civil to each other during this trip? It was hard to imagine.
Claire emerged, hefting a large bag and being dragged along by a little hand. Her smile was, like everything about this meeting, awkward and perhaps a little bit forced. Lenore McCoy and Claire Darnell had, once upon a time, gotten along much like sisters, until it was discovered that the latter was sleeping with the former's husband.
Somehow she always found herself more angry at Joss than she could ever be at Claire. But then again, she also hadn't spoken to the woman since the marriage, a mutual silence between them.
The adults and child walked along, small talking their way through the spaceport terminal, asking all the usual, expected questions. Where are you staying. How long. What brings you this way. How's life been treating you. Mostly short, hollow answers, never hitting upon any sore spots if possible, up until the point where Jonas stopped and stood in front of them, arms crossed, defiant-looking, explaining that he would like to spend some of his vacation with his mother.
Joss, as expected, was vehemently opposed to the idea initially, a stern no, not a chance, not in a million years, keep dreaming. What Len didn't expect was for Claire to calmly place a hand on his arm and say, "Baby, it's her son. Give them some time."
That was how Lenore got to spend the day with the son she hadn't seen in the flesh for four years.
***
"Time moves so fast," she notices idly while he listens. "There was so much we could've done or wanted to do...or say, but there just aren't enough hours. One minute, I'm in surgery trying to piece together some poor ensign caught in a crossfire; the next, I'm discovering new lifeforms on unexplored planets; the next, I've got my son; the next, I'm saying goodbye to him."
"That's just the way it goes. You could've been unlucky, you know. It was good that you just happened to have shore leave there that day. You could've missed him. You wouldn't have wanted that, would you?"
She sighs as she wraps her arms around his waist, silently wishing he could be her Leo in that moment so it wouldn't be weird to kiss him. "No, of course not."
***
Ice cream was the first item on the menu that Jonas demanded. They sat in a park under a gold-tinted sky and a tree with too few branches to be much cover from the sun. "Are they treating you okay?" It seemed a stupid thing to ask. If Joss or Claire ever mistreated Jonas, and Len found out, there would not be a power in the universe that could stop her. But she felt the need to ask it anyway, glancing down at him over her cone of chocolate mocha chunk.
Jonas nodded, careful not to knock over the minty concoction he was licking inadvertently. "We don't get to spend as much time together as we used to because of school and them working all day, but it's okay."
"Just okay?"
"It's good, mom."
"Okay."
"Dad helps me with math after supper. They take turns cooking, but Claire isn't very good at it."
She smirked. "And you're saying dad is?"
"He's gotten better. But your lasagna was still always the best. Hey, can we go to the museum?"
She'd already been there a few days before when they first arrived at the planet, full of alien culture and art and history, but she took him anyway and took in his marveled expression, nodding as he pointed out this and that. He was extremely impressed with the extra knowledge she could impart on him about certain cultures and peoples that she'd actually met. They talked about what it was like to live and work in space, especially since she hated flying so much. He asked about the captain, and he tried to get her to take him up to the ship for just one quick tour, which she would not let herself get wheedled into.
***
Leo snorts. "Everyone would probably spoil him rotten, anyway."
***
Then it was a whirlwind, trying to fit as much in as they could. "You won't leave anything to do with your dad at this rate." Visiting the boardwalk at the beach, wasting a little money on tourist trap gifts that he wanted, windowshopping downtown in the city proper, wherever it struck them to go, they went, until they ended up back at her hotel room and flopped on the bed. They put on a movie, not paying much attention to what it was, talking more. About school, about daily life, about whatever.
He curled up against her, the sun having long since gone down and the moonless night punctuated by stars out the window, sleeping. She was content to leave him like that, except she knew that she had to get him back to Joss and Claire. Needed to get him back and needed to start packing afterwards, as shore leave ended the next day. Reluctantly, she roused him. Their goodbye was short and simple, with promises to call, and even promises (from Jo, anyway) that they'd see each other again, for longer, with more fun. And that was that.
***
"Sounds like a good time."
She nods a little numbly.
"He'd better keep that promise."
Another nod.
"Lenore." At that, she twists a little, looking up at him. "It'll be okay. The kid's in good hands, and you left him with some good, fresh memories of the mother he clearly still loves. You did good, Len. It'll be okay."
A little smile makes its way back onto her face, settling back down onto Leo. "He'd better keep that promise."