Another Fine Mess

Part 2

By Yuki Wildstar

EDF headquarters

Rear Admiral Derek Wildstar’s Office

28^th floor

17^th of November, 2213

Wildstar spent as much time with his family every chance he got. Now a Rear Admiral in EDF he sat at his desk signing papers, when a buzzing sound came from his intercom. “Yes?”

“Admiral, there is a Commander Lisa Ramirez here to see you.” Lieutenant Blakely said as he listened.

“Send her in Lieutenant.”

Wildstar looked up and watched as the door opened, she walked in standing 5’ 5” in high heels. Wearing her full officer’s peacoat and cover held under her arm on the side she stood at attention and saluted him. Derek looked at her and made a mental note of her looks ‘Pretty, about 23 or 24 years of age, short black hair cut in the back while a huge strand almost covered her face . Eyes dark blue like a clear day sky, her lips were full as she wore a light shade of brown that accented her tan skin.

“Commander please come in sit down, how can I help you?” Wildstar said as he motioned her to sit in the chair in front of his desk.

“Thank you sir, I’m sorry to disturb you at this late time, but my orders where just handed to me yesterday. Sir this is my first command and I have little experience as Captain of a ship this size, I will be commanding the Long Island. I was wondering that if there’s any way possible that I may go over some procedures with you. I don’t want my first command to be trial and error, and that will be less on both of our jobs. I figured that if I needed to learn anything it would be from you.”

“Well I admire your confidence in me, and your right to not show cockiness. You don’t know how many captains stood commanded of a ship and knew nothing at all. Making my job harder and on top of things getting people killed.”

“I understand sir that is one reason I came to you, you are my fleet commander and I want to make sure that all goes smoothly. I don’t want to be one of those statistics and put my crew at risk.”

“That’s good to hear, I will only have time to go over things after work today if you have no plans?”

“Sir, will that interfere with your personal life. I don’t want to intrude.” Ramirez said.

“Not at all, I’ll call my wife and let her know I’m working a little late. She will understand she was once my Deputy Captain and knows how it is to work long hours before leaving on a mission.” Wildstar said.

“Is this your wife sir?” she asked as she picked up a picture of Nova and Alex.

“Yes it is.” Wildstar beamed at it, “and that little fella in is our 7 year old son, Alexander.”

“Very pretty, and I can see that your son has inherited your good looks.” she said and he felt flush from the compliment.

“Thank you, she’s expecting our twins this coming year.”

“Really! Twins? How lucky for you both. You must be beaming with joy, she’s a lucky woman.”

“No I’m the lucky one, she’s a great gal. My soul mate and friend.” he said.

“That’s great, well Commander, I will be leaving now I know you have much to do. I will see you later then about what time sir?”

“We can start at 1600 hrs” Wildstar said as she saluted and he returned her salute. “Dismiss.”

He picked up the phone and dial Nova’s cell number, “Hello?” he smiled to hear her voice.

“Hey babe, how do you feel?” He asked.

“I feel like I swallowed a watermelon but other than that I feel fine.” Nova said giggling on the other side of the line.

“That’s great, how’s Alex?”

“He standing right next to me would like to talk to your son?” Nova said.

“Yeah, put him on.” He said grinning from ear to ear. “Hey kiddo, are you taking good care of mom?”

“Yes dad, when are you coming home?” he asked.

“Not till late, so I’m gonna need you to take care of mommy a little longer so that means minding yourself, eat your dinner, all your vegetable and then make sure that you go to bed on time when mommy tells you to. Oh yeah don’t forget to brush your teeth. Okay.”

“Okay dad, I will.” Alex said.

“Now put your mom back on.”

“Mommy, daddy wants you.” he heard him say to Nova.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey, I won’t be home tonight so don’t wait up. I have a new captain coming in and he wants to go over some protocol. I’d rather deal with it now then go into space and be surprise that things can go wrong.” He had no clue as why he didn’t tell Nova it was a Her and not a He. But it didn’t accord to him to tell her the truth about the sex of the officer.

“Okay babe, Alex here will keep me company. I love you.” she said.

“I love you to. I promise I'll make this up to you.”

“You sure will skipper, I’ll make sure you do.” she said laughing as she watched Alex played around the sand box outside.

“Ha ha ha I love you so much.”

“Love you to. See you later tonight then, bye”

Derek hung up his phone and went back to work. The day went by quickly before he knew it, it was already 1600 hours. He was finishing signing some reports to hand over to Blakely so he could send them over to Admiral Singleton when he heard someone knocking on the door.

“I’m almost finished with the paper work, Blakely.” he called out.

“Sorry I don’t think I’m him.” Ramirez said as she poked her head through the door.

Wildstar looked up and saw her standing at the door, “Oh damn I almost forgot, come in, have a seat. Is my Aide still at his desk?”

“No but he left a message. Something about getting home before his wife did, but he did say to leave all the work on his desk and he will come in early to deliver it to the Admiral.”

“Right, it’s his wife’s birthday and I told him to just go. Excuse me while I put this on his desk and we can get started.”

“Sure, Sir.”

“Please call me Derek, no need for formality.”

“Lisa.” she said back.

“Good, be right back.” As he walked out to Blakely’s desk, she looked over on his desk and looked once again at Nova’s and Alex’s picture. She smiled at the little boy that looked so much like his father. “Sorry, I’m back” he said as he walked back into the office.

“He is so cute.” she said. “So do you know what the others will be?”

“Not yet, we should know soon. How about you are you married?” Wildstar asked.

“No, not yet, but I’m engaged to be married.”

“Congratulations, when is the big day?” Derek asked.

“We haven’t picked a day yet, we just got engaged a month ago. So we will probably wait for a while. He’s a lawyer for the Judge Advocate.”

“That’s great, so what would you like to know?”

“Well sir. Derek. I’ve never like the fact to go into battle or any ops without working with my superior officer. If I can’t perform to my fullest extent then I am no longer good to run a ship. I want to know what you expect of me, so I won’t, excuse the language, fuck up.”

Wildstar smiled at her and was glad that she was honest with him. “Well Lisa, the only thing I expect from my officers is that they do their best and when I ask for your opinion I want you to be honest and blunt. No beating around the bush with me, I won’t take things to heart and respect those that stand by their decisions. If you stick to your guns I pretty much will give you that. And I’ve always told my officers go with your gut instincts…they’re usually right.”

“Thank you sir, now I’d like to go over some maps and strategies with you, if you don’t mind?” She said as she pulled out some papers from her brief case.

“Sure let’s see what you have.” Derek said as he took them from her and rolled them out on his conference table.

They worked for hours looking over charts and solar systems. She had many questions that made Wildstar feel that she wanted to make a good impression with him. When he finally looked up it was already past midnight.

“Damn, it’s late. We can continue this tomorrow if you don’t mind. I hope that by the time I get home Nova wouldn’t be sleeping already. I need to spend time with her, before I leave.”

“It must be hard to leave her when she almost due, aren’t we going to be in space when she delivers?”

“She’s due the week before we get back, I hate for her to be alone giving birth. I only wish I can be here, but unfortunate for me they need me to straighten out this mishap with Desslock and Namir.”

“Well then you better get going home, and thank you again Admiral, I mean Derek.”

“No problem, I’ll walk you to your car.” he said as he grabbed his jacket and cover. He walked her to her car and watched as she got in and drove off. He then jumped into his car and drove home. The lights to the house were off. He opened the door as quietly as he could. First he took a look in on Alex as he slept in his bed and then went to their room. He could see Nova image sleeping on the bed and he walked over to her. Putting his hand on her face he bent down and kissed her on the lips. Yawning he realized that he was tired and went into his closet to get out of his clothes. He crawled into bed next to her and brought her close to him. He gently kissed the back of her neck taking in her perfume. “Love you,” he whispered into her ear and then drifted off to sleep.

EDF Headquarters

Rear Admiral Derek Wildstar’s Office

29^th floor

0100 hours one week later.

28^th of November, 2213

They worked every night going over charts and strategies, too Wildstar it was like talking with Nova on a mission. She was sharp and witty, she had a question and answer for everything. She reminded him of Nova each time. “Very good Lisa, I would never have thought of that. I guess I better make a mental note on that area.” Wildstar smiled at her.

“I only know that because I was lost out there one time.” Lisa said.

“Well we better get going, I think you have everything cover and I really need to spend time with my wife and son. Have I answered all your questions?”

“Yes thank you, I’ll just get these papers up and I’ll go.” she said. “You go on, I’m sure Nova is waiting for you.”

“I wouldn’t feel right letting you walk out by yourself, let me help you with that.” Wildstar said as he reached for some papers and placed them into her brief case. Grabbing the remaining papers she began to shove them into her brief case causing some to fall to the floor. Together they dove for the papers not noticing each other when they bumped their heads together.

“Ouch!” she said as she stood up.

“Gosh I’m sorry, here let me get these.” he said as he picked up the remaining papers and handed them to her. Her eyes met his and she felt her face heat up from his stare. Without thinking she threw her arms around him and kissed him. “What are you doing?!” he snapped with anger as he pulled away from her.

“I’m sorry, I just thought that we, you, we made a connection.” she said.

“I’m a married man and you’re engaged to be married, there’s no connection, Commander!” He said annoyed “I love my wife and you’re supposed to be in love with your fiancé, listen let’s just forget about this. It’s a misunderstanding and we need to move on, you have a ship to command and I have a fleet. Let’s just go.” He said and grabbed his jacket and cover and escorted her out to her car.

She turned to him before getting into the car and said “I am so sorry Derek it’s just that, I guess I just got carried away.”

Derek said with a stern face. “It’s Rear Admiral Wildstar so please make a note of that, and let’s just forget about this. We have to work together and we don’t need anything hanging over our heads”

“Yes sir.” she said and got in her car then drove off. Wildstar let out a breath and knew that he had to tell Nova what happen. He didn’t want any more secrets between each other. He got in the car and drove home. He pulled up to the house noticing the lights on. Taking a deep breath he made his way into the house. Wearing her multicolored silk long nightgown that Derek bought her for mother’s day Nova sat on the coach reading a medical book when she looked up and saw him standing there. Something about his expression wasn’t right to her and she put her book down and focused on him.

“Hey baby.” she said.

“Hey babe, I’ve missed you.” Derek said as he looked at her. He could tell that she had just come out of the shower. Her hair was wet and pulled back in a pony tail making her look 16 to him. “Glad that you’re up I can’t remember that last time we spent time together.”

“It’s been over a week.” she looked at him trying to figure what went wrong.

Placing his things away he walked back into the living room and then sat down in his chair and asked. “Is Alex sleeping?”

“Its 1:30 in the morning, I think he is.” Nova said with slit eyes.

“So why up so late?” Derek asked avoiding her stare.

“Stop beating around the bush, what’s up?” Nova said with intrigue.

Derek sat there and looked at his wife, ‘Damn she is too smart, how does she do it?’ he thought to himself. He sat back in his chair and let out a breath. “Nov, I’m gonna tell you the truth so please let me finish before you say anything.” Derek said.

“Go on” she said and sat there as she listen to what he was saying, he went into detail about Ramirez and their work. Explaining what they talked about and the mission that they will be working together. To Nova everything seemed normal, for the exception of him not telling her that Ramirez was a woman not a man. He continued to tell her about everything until he came to tonight’s meeting.

“She caught me off guard Nova and I told her nothing can happen between either of us. I’m happily married and love my wife. I told her that she was engaged and that she is suppose to be in love with him. That’s all that happened, Nova I swear, I don’t want any secrets between us. After what happened with us in the past”

“EXACTLY!” she snapped at him. “How stupid can you be, putting yourself into another dumb situation like that again? And why didn’t you tell me that He was a She??? That would’ve been a big factor to let me know.”

“I’m sorry Nova, you’re right” he said with his head down.

“I don’t know what more to say to you, we’ve already been down this road before. I, I, I just can’t look at you right now.” she said and walked into their room slamming the door behind her.

Derek sat there for a long time debating whether or not to go into the room, as he took a deep breath he got up and walked into their room hoping to settle it all before they went to bed. Nova lay on the bed her body turned away from him. He went into his closet and changed out of his uniform and into pajama pants, then crawled into bed with her. As he tried to put his arms around her she turned away from him again and moved his arms from her.

“Don’t touch me,” she snapped feeling betrayed once again.

“Nova, please I don’t want to leave knowing that you’re mad at me.” He reached for her once more.

“I said don’t touch me. I can’t stand to look at you right now.”

“Nova, you’re letting your hormones take control, please I would like to talk about this.”

“My HORMONES! This has nothing to do with my hormones and don’t try to make me feel that they are. I’m going to sleep in Alex’s room, I just can’t be here with you right now!” she barked at him. Grabbing her robe she walked out of the room slamming the door behind her.

29^th of November, 2213

Morning. . . . .

Waking up he quickly went into Alex’s room hoping to talk before Alex woke up. Quietly he opened the door finding it empty. He checked the nursery to find no one. Feeling panicky he went to the kitchen and found them having breakfast. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her. Turning around Alex jumped out of the chair and ran to his father. “Daddy!”

“Good morning kiddo, so what are you and mom up to today” he said as he hugged his son. He looked up to his wife but found her avoiding his look and stared at the paper. He knew then that she was still mad and was putting up a front for Alex’s sake.

“We’re going to the park and then mommy has to go to work and do surgerky.”

“That’s SURGERY Alex.” He laughed at him and run his hand over his head.

“Would you like some breakfast Derek?” Nova asked.

“Sure if you don’t mind.” Derek looked at her with hurt eyes.

“No problem babe, why don’t you get ready for work and I’ll have breakfast ready for you by the time you’re done.”

“Yeah, ah alright, hey Alex I’ll be leaving work on time today so I can pick you up from school.”

“REALLY!? Mom, daddy is picking me up from day care.”

“That’s great Alex why don’t you let dad go get dressed and I’ll finish up in here. Then we’ll get you dressed and ready to go to the park.”

Derek looked over to his wife once more as she turned to make breakfast for him then went to get dressed and ready for work. Coming back into the kitchen Nova stood there waiting for him with breakfast. She put his plate on the table for him and then took hold of Alex to get him ready for the park and then school. They both left together out the house and he helped her get Alex in the car. She gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and got in her car leaving him standing there watching her drive down the road with their son.

12^th of December, 2213

For two weeks the routine never changed, in the morning she would be up with Alex, make him breakfast and leave to drop Alex at school and then off to work. At night she was just as polite with him in front of their son. She would make dinner while Derek played with their son in the living room. They both helped in putting their son to bed and took turns reading him a story. She made Alex’s life at home as normal as possible. After he was asleep she would sit in the living room and read while he went into his study and did some work. She then would get dressed for bed and leave him there alone in their room. Sometimes she would sleep in Alex’s room or she would sleep in the nursery where she made a small make shift bed for herself.

Two days before his departure, after Alex was asleep, he went into the living room with her. He stood in front of her and said.

“Nova, we need to talk.”

“What is it now!?” she said looking up at him annoyed.

“Babe I can’t live this way, I have to know that we are alright before I leave.”

“We’re alright, Derek.” she said in a flat tone.

“No I don’t think we are.”

“What more would you like me to tell you?” she huffed.

“I love you so much and it hurts that you won’t talk to me.” He said. “I just can’t leave Earth knowing that we are not right.”

“Derek,” she said holding out her hand so that he can help her up. “I love you too and all I can say is that I’m fine.” she gave him a kiss on the cheek and went to bed. Derek followed her a few minutes later and found her sleeping in their bed. For the first time in two weeks she was actually sleeping with him.

He undressed and slipped into bed with her, taking in her scent. Slowly he reached for her and wrapped his arms around her swollen belly. He placed his hand on her stomach as he smiled to himself while the babies in her moved. Kissing the back of neck, Nova reached for his hand and held it in hers as he touched her stomach.

“Derek I have another appointment tomorrow…are you coming?” She asked him.

“Of course, will we find out what we’re having tomorrow?”

She shifted as she turned to look at him, “if you like.”

“Yes I would like that very much.” He said smiling at her. “What time tomorrow?”

“It’s at 10 in the morning at the hospital.”

“I’ll be there, you can count on that.”

“Okay.” she said then tried to turn around to sleep.

Grabbing her face he kissed her on the lips. “I’ve missed you so much, Nova.”

“Hmm me too.” she said back to him.

Slowly he pulled her closer to him feeling her body with his hand. She kissed him back and let him make love to her.

To be continued . . . . . .