Future Tense

[DrDMatthews 0]

A brief glimpse into the dreams of the Reaent's XO also known as Deb's loving husband - by the Reaent's XO and his wife!

 

As Aidan settles into his seat on the bridge his mind runs over the conversation earlier with Deb in their quarters. For whatever reason, his mind focuses on trying to figure out what exactly she meant by "I think maybe I'll be ready a little before two years" in regards to leaving the ship, retiring from Starfleet and moving on to the next stage of their lives and their marriage.

If it hadn’t been for the interruption regarding Commander Schawnsee and the reasons behind it, Aidan would take what Deb said as something to feel just joy over. But in context of the apparent problem with Schawnsee and how Deb reacted when the original incident happened, Aidan isn’t sure what she said was meant in a good way. Still, he hopes she meant what she said in a positive way and the memories of her reaction from the incident before aren’t coloring it.

 

In an effort to get his mind off the negative thoughts, he tries forcing it onto a different topic. For whatever reason, his mind imagines stepping through the doors into an entranceway of a spacious house. He sets Deb, who he had been carrying, down on her feet and then pulls her into a kiss. Breaking it off he murmurs "Welcome to our new home." A breeze from the open windows in the large living room beyond the entranceway picks up and brings the smell of a tropical sea to them.

 

"I know you did this for me," she breathed in his ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "We could have taken that place a few kilometers from your parent's home." And that was true. The house in Ireland had been quite lovely....very spacious and the gardens were beautiful. Debbie had no problem living there but, she had to admit, this particular home on the Hawaiian beachfront was her favorite. Aidan had given up settling near his family so her dream of living on the beach could come true.

 

The house was so much larger than anything she was accustomed to. She had lived aboard starships for so long, she'd lost touch with the space and amenities afforded one by a real house. As it was, they had very little to move in with....not even furniture....although the bedroom suite would be arriving later in the day. There was so much to do to turn this house into their home. She was really looking forward to all the shopping and even though Aidan groaned every time she mentioned it, she knew, deep down, he was almost as excited as she was....and he had yet to find out about her little secret.

 

He smiles as he slips his arms around her. "What’s the point of being married if the husband can’t see to his wife’s wishes and wants. Besides, we’re on Earth and not on some starship. And it’s not like with today’s technology it’s that difficult to visit either my parents or your grandparents." He kisses the crux of her neck then trails it to her ear before murmuring, "Besides, all I wanted was to have an actual home in an actual house with you. Somewhere where we can grow old together, live here for the rest of our lives."

 

He guides her into the living room just beyond the entranceway, the main feature of which is a large bay window overlooking a large flower garden and the front lawn. And on the opposite wall is a equally large set of windows overlooking the ocean beyond. He sets her back on her feet and smiles amusedly, "I think this will do for us, yes? Not like it doesn’t have enough space for all the things I’m sure my wife is going to delight in buying, I hope. Unless you intend to go completely overboard?"

 

"Oh I'm sure this will do just fine," replied Deb with a laugh. "If I have my way, we'll live here forever. And rest easy, I will not go overboard. But even you must agree that we need some furniture," she added glancing around the empty room. "We have a kitchen with no pots or pans. We don't even have dishes to eat off of." She grinned at him sheepishly. "Guess we'll have to eat out for a while."

 

He chuckles and nods. "Well, the bedroom furniture won’t arrive til later today. You sure you didn’t want something new for that by the way? At any rate we should probably concentrate on the kitchen, dining room, living room, main bathroom and I guess anything else we might need for our bedroom first. The rest of the rooms can probably wait til after we’ve got those settled. I don’t think we’ll be needing the spare bedrooms or the other rooms settled right away. I don’t see us having guests until we’re more settled in, do you? And I suppose at some point we’ll have to go to my parents and pick up Nephtys from Ciara’s care. But we should check out the rest of the house first I think. We should get a better idea of what we want and what we need before we go shopping."

 

His smile turns mischievous as he thinks something. "And Deb, I didn’t agree to buy this house purely for you. I do get some benefit from it. Like seeing you in light summer clothes and bathing suits. Speaking of which, we should go clothes shopping too. I think some of our clothes are too heavy for a area that will be as warm as this."

 

Debbie was laughing by the time Aidan finished speaking. "Wow!" she chided with amusement. "And you were concerned I would go overboard?" Taking his hand, she lead him toward the spare bedrooms, one of which they have both agreed should be transformed into some kind of an office. It was large enough to accommodate both their needs but that wasn't the room she was most interested in. There were two others. One would be their guest room...a guest room that Aidan wasn't in a big hurry to furnish. The other would be something else entirely. Again, her husband's thoughts were quite logical. Those two rooms wouldn't be needed for awhile.

 

He smirks "I was referring to the rooms we’ll use everyday, the ones we’ll need right away. Yes, its quite a bit more shopping required then I usually like to do but then..well this is a big project, so to speak. I want to make this a complete home quickly and I want to make you happy."

 

In a way, he was right. But she happened to know they would be needed a bit sooner than Aidan realized. "For now," she said lightly. "We probably should focus on the kitchen and the common areas." She stopped in the hall just outside what would become the guest room. " But we can't put off furnishing these two rooms for too long." Aidan looked totally confused but she didn't give him a chance to say anything. "Once this one is occupied," she continued, pointing toward the next room. "I'm sure we'll have company and we will need someplace for them to stay. Dropping his hand, Debbie walked on down the hallway and stepped inside the next room. She stood near the door and surveyed the empty space with it's barren walls and naked windows. She knew her husband was right behind her so she didn't bother turning around. "And we have about 30 weeks before this room will be occupied."

 

He blinks in confusion at what she says. He spends a long minute trying to figure out what she’s referring to. He finally starts to say "Who would be in that room in...." And that's when it starts to dawn on him as to what she’s referring to as he thinks through the time period she mentioned. Thirty weeks? That’s six weeks short of thirty six weeks and that was... He suddenly finds it difficult to breathe as his mind whirls for a few seconds. He settles his hands at her shoulders and slowly turns her around. "Deb, are you saying you’re..." His voice catches again and as if to complete the question he traces a hand down her side and presses it gently against her stomach.

 

"That's what I'm saying," mummers Deb, slipping her arms around his neck. "But don't ask me the gender because I don't know. And I don't want to know." She smiled broadly as she glanced from one side to the other pretending to look at the room. "So we'll have to decorate carefully.....something for either a boy or a girl. We can always add the trimmings once the baby is here."

 

He smiles broadly for a second then gathers her in his arms. He almost asks the questions of how and when but catches himself, deciding that those were incredibly silly questions. He lifts her off her feet as he kisses her deeply. He breaks it off after a minute and murmurs "I love you, Deb. And I don’t want to know the gender either. Much prefer to be surprised." As soon as he says that he kisses her again. And if there's any tears in his eyes, he doesn’t notice them. He breaks off the kiss again. "We should think of someway to celebrate, darling."

 

It went better than she could have possibly hoped for. She knew he would be surprised and was pretty sure he'd be please. The fact he was ecstatic made it all the better. "I love you too," she whispered, resting her cheek against his chest. "I'm glad you're happy about it. I am too." That was an understatement. She was well beyond happy. She'd been walking on clouds for the past month or so. Now, she could share the joy with Aidan, who's cooperation in this little project had been absolutely essential.

 

She pulled back a bit and looked up at him. It was ironic to see the stoic Commander so emotional and misty eyed. But she wouldn't tease him about it. This was a momentous occasion. "I know the bedroom furniture is scheduled for later today," she quipped gleefully. "But maybe we can sneak in a little lunch before it arrives. That would be a celebration for me. I'm famished."

 

"Whatever my wife wishes. But may I also suggest, perhaps, that once we get back and our bedroom furniture is here, you allow me to give you a massage?" He smiles wryly, "Considering my wife is likely to start blaming me for getting her into her...condition in a couple months. I’d like the opportunity to get on her good side as much as possible. And I trust that Merina and Gracie already know?" He brushes a hand against the side of her face. "And may I also suggest that we tell our families in person? Else they’re going to be somewhat miffed that there won’t be hugging and whatnot involved. I think we can afford a day trip or two sometime this week?"

 

Aidan was talking a mile a minute and Debbie couldn't help but laugh. "I will never say no to a good massage," she quipped. "But I promise, I won't blame you when I start looking like the primary hull of a Galaxy class. After all, you aren't totally responsible." Stepping away from him, she took his hand and led him back into the hallway. "And yes, Merina and Gracie and the entire medical staff know. So do several others on the ship. I was scared to death they would slip up and say something to you."

 

He stops and pulls her back into him. Smiling wryly, he quips bemusedly "If we have additional children if you tell others that you’re pregnant before me I will withhold chocolate from you. And massages and other intimate things like that." He punctuates that with a kiss.

 

"You know I can't live without chocolate," grinned Debbie. "So if there is a next time, I'll make sure you're the second one to know. But this is our first.....and I wanted to surprise you."

 

They left the hall and stepped into what would become their family room. "As far as the day trips go, I think that's a great idea." She continued pulling him toward the front door. "Maybe we can make some arrangements while we're eating lunch."

 

He opens the front door for her as he asks "So...you can’t live without chocolate but I also threatened to withhold massages and kisses and those you apparently can live without." He smirks and adds "I’m not sure quite what to think of that." As they step outside he closes the door and makes sure its locked. Falling into step beside her he slips his arm around her waist. "I mean, I’d like to think that those are other things you wouldn’t want to deal without. Would be rather a hope of mine actually." He shakes his head and chuckles. "But I’ll let that go so we can concentrate more on deciding what furniture we need and making arrangements to tell our family about your little surprise."

 

With that the pleasant little daydream ends and Aidan finds himself still on the bridge of a Starship and not where he increasingly wants to be. He glances around before sighing quietly to himself. Idly he wonders if they will ever get to that point.