Mirror, Mirror - Part Eleven

Posted on Sat Mar 21st, 2020 @ 8:17am by Grand Admiral Julia Antilles-Yeager & Grand General Paul "Caveman" Antilles

Mission: Mission 98: Building Our New Home
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1410Hrs - September 12th, 2393

"Different," Paul answered. "But okay." and with that, he approached the door and he tapped the door release button. He found himself face to face with his other sibling. Julia grinned at him. "Hey, big man. Making yourself at home?" as she entered her new siblings' quarters.

"Something along those lines," Paul answered as he gently gave Julia a hug, which she returned. "How's your brood?"

"I swear Tiamat herself would run in fear," Paul answered as he indicated Kat who was finishing a drink she had just gotten from the replicator. "Julia, this is Kate or Kat," he commented. "Kat, this is Julia." as he handled the introductions.

Julia smiled as she regarded the other woman who was slightly larger then she herself was. "Hello Kat, I've been wanting to meet you for a while. Julian couldn't be present for this and neither could Keyan which was a real shame, to be honest. I think Julian would have liked to meet you and Keyan would be happy to have an aunt in the house."

"I'm sorry, I'm still processing who is who and who's related to whom," Kat answered. "For years, it was just me." she smiled as she gently shook Julia's hand with her own. "I never imagined there would be so many of us. It's quite intimidating... You got a small army of children and you got your own brood. The small bush in my reality is now two gigantic trees." Kate paused. "Where do I even fit in?"

"Wherever you prefer," Paul answered. "You are still family to us, your blood and DNA proves it without question," he commented evenly.

"I will need time to process it," Kat admitted as she regarded Paul.

"Of course. Julia and I both would, had we been in your shoes... Going from nothing to finding out there are at least twenty of us in one sitting, is not for the faint of heart."

Julia nodded. "Some of us lead interesting lives." she turned to Paul. "Hows Kerrie and M'aotoke doing these days?"

"Kerrie is busy with her command. According to her, life on Starbase Hundred and Five is a busy one, that's why I took all of the kids with me, they talk to their mother on subspace often enough but it's not the same," he commented. "M'aotoke is outranked for the posting she presently holds and I know she's wanting another posting because of her rank issue," he explained before he turned back to Kat. "I have two spouses."

Kat blinked, this was a major shock for her. "Wow. I... I had never expected you to ever settle down... Much less do it twice with two different women at the same time." she paused as she smiled.

Paul nodded. "M'aotoke and I formed our relationship first when I was the Captain of the Relentless... It was a casual thing that started slowly, before long she and I were dating but it was more of a friend with benefits kinda thing, it grew from there... Kerrie and I met much later while I was on assignment for the Federation diplomatic service. Things somewhat snowballed from there." Paul explained.

"Fair enough, but you owe me no explanation," Kat answered evenly. "Though I do appreciate it all the same." she turned to Julia, her other twin. "What about you sweetie?."

"What about me?" Julia inquired. "One spouse is more than enough for me, thanks... I don't have time for the one I do have, how Paul manages to find time for his two, is simply beyond me," she answered. "It does not help that all of my children except Keyan are all quite young," she added. "Keyan, however, is only fourteen years my junior." Julia then sighed softly. "His life has been a long and strange one."

"Considering what happened. I'd agree." Paul answered lightly.

"If you don't mind my asking..." Kat commented. "What did happen?" she pressed further.

"Well, it started when we were ten. I was allowed to go and visit one of our uncles. A man named Raymond on a Federation colony that was attacked, the facility was leveled, all of the people slain except for myself and two others. I never found out what happened to the others but I was... Recovered by a Klingon who was on patrol in the area and taken into the house of the Klingon Captain, he assumed I had no family and thus. I was given to his mate to raise as she saw fit... I made the best of a bad situation and thus I became known as the tuq HutlhwI'." he let out a soft sigh. "The Orphan... But I took to my changed situation with a certain... Shall we say zealousness that surprised even the Klingons. The reason was simple."

Kat regarded her brother with a look. "Let me guess... Revenge." it wasn't a question as she knew what he was about to say.

"Yep," Paul answered in a flat tone of voice. "So I learned all they had to teach me... Eventually, I became a part of his family, thanks to the Rustai ritual, he formally adopted me as one of his sons. House Kaang, or House Antilles as some call it, lives on through me." he answered. "Eventually I returned to the Federation several years later. But had I remained in the Empire, I could have gotten a lot further then command of a simple ship of the line."

"How far do you think you could have gone?" Kat inquired.

"Who could say but life in the Empire is much more unstable then life inside the Federation..." Paul admitted. "Upon my return, I found Julia had moved out from our parents and had become an emancipated adult, citing various issues, I also discovered she had a child and a boyfriend who was with issues... It did not endear me to him in the least, not right away anyway."

"Oh god, I remember those days," Julia answered. "Had Pash not gotten killed during the war... All of my children would be much older and Keyan wouldn't have been an only child for so long." she sighed softly.

Kat regarded her two siblings which she was only just meeting for the first time. "Well guys, I'm getting hungry, what say we have dinner?"

"Sure," Paul answered with a smile. "There is a lot to tell and why rush it... right?"

"Indeed." Julia agreed. "Yes, let's eat..." and with that, the three of them moved over towards the replicator in silence.