We need to talk...

Posted on 24 Dec 2013 @ 2:20pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Taryn Galepsie & Warrant Officer Vernon Banks

1,107 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Starfleet HQ - Enlisted Barracks
Timeline: MD 04 - 2035 hrs

ON:

Taryn had been feeling a little off for more then a few days. Going to the Starfleet HQ sickbay hadn't gone how she had thought. Never in her life had she been hoping for some dire illness over this.

Tapping on the chime outside of the temporary quarters that had been assigned to the one person that she had been avoiding. Vernon Banks.

"Yeah, come in," Vernon called out from his bunk. He placed the PADD down he was reading and looked towards the door to see who the visitor was, then covered his mouth while he yet out a fatigued yawn. It was getting late in the evening and after a day filled with various sorts of PT exercises, he was now exhausted.

So many things had happened since she has talked to Banks last. Taking a deep breath she walked into the quarters. "Heya Banks." She grinned as easily as she could. "Hope I am not bothering you."

He was surprised to see Taryn walk in, especially since they had parted on somewhat awkward terms back on board Galileo. It wasn't that he was unhappy to see her, but he wondered why she had come to pay him a visit. "Hey Galepsie," he replied, then shook his head and sat up straight. "No, just doing some reading. It's been a long day for me, I might hit the sack early," he added. "How've you been?"

"Been better..." Taryn started as she moved to sit down not far from where Vernon was positioned. "I have been feeling a little icky as of late." She confessed. "So....sorry to pop in on you all random like...but..." She let out a little breath.

"It's alright, I don't mind," he said in return. "What's up? Everything okay?" he asked, not sure exactly what 'icky' meant.

"I don't know how to say this..." She started. "So I am just gunna get it out there." She looked up at him. She wasn't going to hide like she had done something wrong. "I am pregnant...and....it's yours."

He stiffened as the dreaded words no man liked to hear popped out of her mouth, and his mind suddenly began to race. It couldn't be true. "What? No...sorry. Can't be." He shook his head and furrowed his brow. "We're in Starfleet, we all take those yearly injections. I just had one recently about four months ago."

Taryn let out a sarcastic laugh. "You and me both, my friend." She shook her head. "Apparently it failed." She looked down at her hands where they rested in her lap. "I am very much pregnant and unless it was an immaculate conception or a severe from before my husbands death....it is yours." She paused for a moment. "I am sorry....and don't worry about it....I just wanted you to know. Seemed only fair."

"Uhh...so you don't know for sure that it's mine? You just think it is?" He was starting to get mad now that she hadn't confirmed anything before coming to him. She might have said she only slept with him recently, but without being able to verify that himself, he was skeptical. "No DNA test?"

"Typical." Taryn said with a shake of her head. She stood up and simply took the PaDD he had been holding. Punching in a few codes she handed it back. "I was being sarcastic." She returned the PaDD now containing the test results from this morning. "And no...he isn't yours....he is mine."

Vernon looked down at the PADD for a long moment...a very long moment. He couldn't believe this was happening to him, but the PADD was telling him otherwise. "Well...shit..." he mumbled, wanting to throw the slim device across the room and break it in half. "If it's mine, then it's ours. Not yours," he quipped back angrily. How was this woman going to walk in, tell him he was a father, then tell him that he couldn't have the kid? And how the hell did the anti-pregnancy injections fail?!

Taryn let out a sigh. She had no idea how they had gone from two people that flirted with the idea of knowing one another to being able to irritate the other to no end. "I am sorry I bothered you with this." She started looking back up at his handsome face. "I came here thinking you had the right to know...." She looked away. "Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything."

"Well if it's my kid, then you're damn right I have the right to know." He scowled at the idea that she had thought it was even a remotely acceptable idea to not inform him of his own child.

Taryn couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. To be perfectly honest....it didn't fit the assumptions she had formed in her head since their last encounter. "Well, now you know..." She started, "What are we going to do?"

He shrugged, still flustered by this whole debacle. "I don't know. I never had a girl come up to me and tell me she was pregnant with my kid before. I guess you're gonna have the baby, then?" That seemed like the most reasonable first step to him.

Taryn didn't voice her answer. She simply nodded her head as she looked up at Banks. It was almost impossible for her to believe that this man was going to be apart of her life....for life.

"Alright. Guess there's time to figure it all out, then," he simply said, not really wanting to talk about it anymore at the moment. He was still having trouble processing what all this would mean for him and his future in Starfleet, and right now, he wasn't too keen on the idea of having to get closer to Taryn. They had had some fun for a night, but he had no real interest in pursuing a romantic relationship any further with her. "Just don't ask to get married. Not happening," he added.

Taryn scoffed. "Trust me...I don't like that idea any better then you." She hated that idea. What had turned out to be a mistake on her part she was now going to pay for for the rest of her life. She had no idea she would enjoy being a mom...it was the dad that had her worried.

[OFF]

--

WO Vernon Banks
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Venture
[PNPC - Saalm]

PO1st Taryn Galespie
Security/Tactical Officer
USSVenture
[PNPC-Barel]

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