One Small Step - Part One

Posted on Wed Feb 26th, 2020 @ 1:08pm by Lieutenant JG Rachael "Ripcord" Yamaguchi-Cullen & Fleet Captain Torilla Yamaguchi

Mission: Mission 15: Old Ghosts
Location: Various Locations - USS Roanoke
Timeline: 1700Hrs, December 8th, 2390

The door opened at the teenagers approach as both cats were complaining, they were hungry as well as not being used to human companionship, it was showing as Rachael placed them both on the sofa. "Lets see..." she went over to the replicator as she ordered two small plates of tuna salad.

As Rachael had predicted and expected, both cats yowled loudly at her as they both stood up, clearly wanting the food as she placed the two plates before the cats on the floor "Here ya go guys.." as she turned back to the replicator to replicate two large bowls of water. It was a temporary solution but it would work for now.

Rachael placed the bowls near the cats as she decided what she would need to replicate. "You guys behave okay." before setting them both gently on the tips of their paws, on some level she felt stupid for talking to a pair of cats that were only just discovering their new home but on another level, she felt good about it, so with that that she went out the door, hoping they wouldn't destroy their new home while she was out.

She came back in about fifteen minutes with two medium sized cat beds, a small raised platform and a large metal bowl for water in addition to two cat bowls the large item in her hands was a litter box.

The cats where nowhere to be found as Rachael smiled before she reached out with her abilities, within moments she found the two cats, one was lying on her mothers bed and the second was under the kitchen table.

She smiled as she went into the master bathroom which she quickly rigged to keep the door open permanently, this was where she got the cats littler box station set up with the scent of air freshener coming from one of the ceiling vents.

Rachael smiled as she went to go track down the cats so she could show them where the kitty box was located, within minutes she had shown them where their food was located, with that out of the way, they proceeded to resume their prowling as they went about discovering their new home.

There was a quiet scream as Rachael poked her head out of the bathroom, one of the cats had caught one of the rats what apparently had gotten loose in the ship, she realized it was the older of the two as Rachael realized that she needed to name them.

She went over to the replicator as she selected two collars with name tags. "Silversides" she decided would be the name for the mother and "Pufftail" would be the name for the young kitten, normaly she would have discussed such things with her own mother as she knew that Torilla was still on duty and would be for another ten minutes or so, she smiled as she watched the cat proceed to start eating the mouse that she had caught.

Rachael placed the collars on them both before she went into her bedroom, once inside she peeled off her uniform as she selected the clothes she was going to change into, she then finished stripping off all her clothing including her underwear.

The teen sighed softly as she selected her bathrobe and then she went into the bathroom, her intention was to have a shower, a short time later she was done and was dressing in her new clothing as her mother came home.

Torilla Yamaguchi entered her quarters as she noticed the new items, scattered around as she raised an eyebrow. "Rachael, what did you do?"

She didn't see any signs of animal life in her quarters asides from a half eaten dead rat, she frowned as she picked up the dead rat as she recycled it in the replicator. "Why do I have a dead rat in my living room... and what killed it?" Torilla inquired aloud as Rachael's bedroom door opened and out came her youngest. "Oh Hey Mom." Rachael greeted her mother.

"Rachael... whats with the dead rat?" Torilla inquired.

"Oh..." The teenager commented. "That's nothing.. you should have seen the bug infestation we have to deal with..." she paused as Torilla smiled. "Let me change and we can talk."

"Okay Mom..." Rachael answered

Torilla went into the master bedroom as she found a small cat curled up on her pillow, she smiled "Where'd you come from little guy?" Torilla inquired.

The cat ignored her as it dozed happily. "Rachael?" Torilla called a moment later after realizing she wasn't hallucinating.

"Yeah mom..." Rachael came into her mothers bedroom as she noticed Pufftail asleep on her pillow.

"I have a cat sleeping on my pillow.." Torilla explained to her youngest as she raised an eyebrow before crossing her arms over her chest, waiting clearly for an explanation.

"Its a long story mom... see we were inspecting second wings warbird's and since they had been sitting out in storage...they became infested by wild animals.."

"How many.. wild animals?" Torilla inquired, in a dry tone.

Rachael thought over the list. "Ummm... seven birds, a dozen rats...six cats." she paused. "A fox, a raccoon, one dog, several dozen Cardassian voles and a hell of a lot of bugs... including several Hornet swarms."

Torilla blinked. "Wait.. we have voles aboard?... and are they lose?"

"Oh yes.." Rachael responded cheerfully. "I've gotten more target practice in the last two days then I've ever had.. its wonderful." Rachael spread her arms. "Seriously."

Torilla sighed softly as she regarded her youngest who seemed insufferably cheery, which in itself was unusual. "Just think mom, if the daily grind is getting to you, just head on up to the pod and go hunting, I know the guys up there will like you for it."

"You are corrupting me, you know that?" Torilla lamented.

"Is it working?" Rachael inquired

"No... and about these two cats... how do you plan to look after them considering we're both gone all day..."

"We'll manage mom, let's face it.. you're always stressed these days, dealing with what will soon be my two newest siblings and your two newest children. Dad has no break as he's got Diamond with him. You should come down to the pod and help us hunt them down..... it'll do wonders for your stress levels." the teen grinned up at her mother.

"Yes, it'll do wonders for my blood pressure too..." Torilla replied in a dry tone. "as in through the roof."

Rachael normally responded with a smart assed comment about this point but she knew fully well the issues her mother was having. "I know.." she paused. "I thought it would help.."

"Nothing wrong with wanting to manage the stress and issues that come with being pregnant but.... you need to watch what you're doing as well... The first one is usually the most challenging." Torilla regarded her daughter. "You remember what happened to Savannah?"

"How could I forget?" Rachael replied quietly.

"Yeah... Because she didn't slow down or take it easy... Pregnancy is something that can change your entire life.. for good and for ill..... But you do need to slow down Rachael. otherwise bad things will start happening...If you're ever going to listen to me on anything, listen to me now..."

"I know mom.." Rachael replied in a quiet tone. "Its scaring me... I know what happened to Savannah. What she and Gabriel went through, he told me all about it... you recall that night when I was up almost all night on subspace?"

"Oh yeah, I remember you looked like you had been in a fight..." Torilla recalled.

"Yes, I was up all night with Gabriel, he was miserable, I could tell he was devastated, the Doctor told him to not expect anything and he spent six hours talking to me..." she commented. "I know what Savannah went through mom and I have two things .. no three things she lacks.... I have you, I have Phoenix watching out for me and I have a lot of people who care about my well being... Besides.. I switch out to work with the maintenance techs, starting next week."

"Okay... what about Siaxx?"

"Ahh.. yes, she wants to see me in a couple of days time.." Rachael responded.
"I have a feeling she'll want to ground me..." she paused. "which actually doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.." the teen admitted.

"Why do you say that?" Torilla inquired.

"Well its simple, I got to take Fives out on my first flight today, I got my first callsign... so yeah, if Siaxx sidelines me then I'm okay with it... I want to get back in the saddle as soon as the little one is born though.." she regarded her mother. "I also don't want you and Dad raising my little one like he or she is yours.." she added.

Torilla regarded her youngest. "Are you going to be able to cope with that workload?, school hanger duties, learning from Phoenix and raising a child... Rachael... that's a lot on anyone s plate.."

Rachael nodded. "I know... but... I can't hide from it or ignore it..." she gently placed her hand over her belly which at the present time was still flat. "Its still my child mom...and while I'm not ready... I know I have people around who do care..."

"Alright." Torilla smiled at her youngest. "Now... about these kitties..."

"Ahh well... yes.... can we keep them?" Rachael inquired. "Please?"

The smaller of the two cats took a moment to interrupt the conversation, he looked up at Torilla before letting out a loud meow, it was more a squeak then a meow, Torilla reached down as she gently picked him up, he rewarded her by instantly purring before making himself comfortable in her arms.

Rachael opened her mouth to say something when the com system beeped. "Dvald to Yamaguchi, Rachael you awake?"

Rachael raised an eyebrow as she tapped her mothers combadge which Torilla never really took off, even when she was on duty. "Yeah Siaxx... whats up?"

"When you have a few minutes to yourself, I was wondering if you could swing by, I have your obstetrician as well as your paperwork, y'know... for your reading pleasure..."

Rachael nodded. "I'll be down shortly... Thanks Siaxx."

"We'll be waiting for you, Dvald out." as Rachael looked at her mom. "So.?"

Torilla smiled as the cat gently bopped the end of her nose with its own. "I think he's adopted me.." she commented. "Yes... we'll keep them."

"Thank mom, I gotta go... Siaxx the she-demon is calling and." Rachael shrugged helplessly as she talked. "Well I gotta go pay the man...eerrr woman." and with that Rachael tugged on her boots and out the door she went, leaving Torilla alone with the two cats.

Torilla sat down on the sofa as both cats moved in for her attention, she smiled as she found herself petting them both as the small one curled up in her lap and the second one, the larger of the two curled up next to her.