The Baby

[Nicolas Lepage 0]

Nick was sitting at his desk waiting for the connection to be established. He had received a note that his father had tried to reach him yesterday. So he decided to make a call home before his shift. The face of Sébastien appeared.

 

"MAMAN, MAMAN, C'EST NICOLAS!" When the boy turned back to the screen he greeted Nick with a smile. "Salut."

 

Nick grinned. "Salut Séb, how are you?"

 

Sébastien was suddenly pushed out of the way and Nick briefly saw three of his other siblings who were obviously fighting over the best place in front of the screen. After a few moments, during which Nick desperately tried to get anyone's attention, his mother appeared nursing a baby. "Ok les enfants, soyez calme ou allez vous-en. I can't understand a word if you keep fighting like this." After this the noise died down and everyone gathered around their mother.

 

"Salut Maman et.." He pointed to the baby. "I don't believe we've met."

 

Gwendolyn smiled and held the baby so that it faced the screen. "Nicolas please meet Benoît Lepage, Benoît may I present your older brother Nicolas."

 

"But Ma! I...well I suppose I've been gone a while." Nick smiled as Benoît yawned and then went back to sleep in his mother's arms.

 

"Oui, it's been a while. Your father tried to reach you yesterday to tell you the good news but you were busy." She paused a moment and looked a bit closer at her oldest son. "You look awful mon p'###### loup. Don't you get enough sleep?"

 

Nick heard a muffled 'Vas te coucher' in the background. He would have been glad to take that advise and go to bed but he had work to do. "I'm alright. We've just had a lot of work lately. How is everyone? I mean... why did Carole-Anne not tell me you were pregnant when I talked to her?"

 

Gwendolyn frowned. "She told me it had seemed more important you talk about what had happened to you than you hear what's happening around here. We were worried."

 

"I know maman. I'm sorry." Nick looked at his mother and then at every one of his brothers and sisters who were listening to the conversation. "I miss you guys."

 

"Tu nous manques aussi!" the five in the background shouted. Benoît started crying at the noise and their mother told them to go play in the backyard. After saying goodbye to their older brother the younger Lepage kids filed out of the room. Benoît had calmed down and was sleeping again.

 

"Nicolas Jean-Baptiste Lepage...listen to me. You need to take better care of yourself. Do you really think you can do your best at work when you're constantly tired like this?"

 

Nick opened his mouth to say something but his mother went on. "No... you listen now. Carole-Anne told me what happened. What did you think refusing to talk to a counsellor? Believe it or not, you, too are human. And yes, you, too need help sometimes. As much as you hate that idea but you, too, Nicolas are not invincible. And taking care of yourself does also mean you go get the help that is offered to you. If you can't manage that you should reconsider your decision to be in Starfleet."

 

Nicolas had suddenly grown very interested in studying his own hands lying on the desk in front of him. "Oui maman, you're right. I'm sorry but I was sure I could deal with it."

 

His mother shook her head. "You're just like your dad. Stubborn and stupid sometimes."

 

Nick sighed. "Talking about stupid. I got myself in some trouble. "At his mother's worried look he hurried to explain. "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Just got chewed out by my chief and I believe I got an entry in my file."

 

Gwendolyn frowned. "What did you do? I mean you've never been the kind of boy to get into that kind of trouble."

 

After reminding her that he was already 25 and not really a boy anymore Nick told his mother about the incident with Megan Marshall. When he had finished his confession he looked at his mother and was surprised to see her smile.

 

"I see you have finally decided to have something like a private life. It might have gotten you into trouble and I'm sure the broken nose was painful but at least you have found some distraction from your work. I was worried you'd go on like you had at school for the rest of your life."

 

"Ma, if it hadn't been for Dr. McKinny's understanding I'd probably have been demoted." He couldn't believe his mother didn't see how much more problems this incident could have meant for him.

 

Her smile, however, didn't fade. "Nicolas, there are more important things than your job. I hope you had some fun."

 

Nick shook his head, still surprised at his mother's reaction. Then he smiled impishly. "Yeah, s'ppose it was worth it."

 

"Good, anything else you needed to tell me?"

 

"No, maman. I need to get going anyway or I'll be late. I promise I'll talk to you soon. Tell dad and all those I haven't seen today I said hello."

 

They said goodbye and Nick got up and left his quarters with a smile on his face. So he had yet another brother. He wished he could go home for a few days. He sighed and stepped into the Turbolift. "Deck 19."