Another Time, Another Place

[ElaineDelgado 0]

It had been a whirlwind courtship between Ji and Elaine, but she had enjoyed every moment of it. The secretiveness added a lovely suspense to it all, which made it ever so easy to ignore the fact that he was almost twenty years her senior. It did not, however, change the fact that she was a good girl. One weekend, after a flippant suggestion by Ji, they were quietly married in a small church and spent their wedding night in a cottage near the ocean.

 

The next morning Elaine came into the living area where Ji sat, looking over their marriage license. “Good morning, love,” she said to him, coming to sit next to him.

 

“You’re only twenty?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” she confirmed, kissing his forehead, his eyes, his nose. “Didn’t you know? I assumed that you reviewed my bio before offering me the research assistant position.” She hesitated, then asked, “Is it a problem?”

 

He grinned. “No, no. It isn’t like you’re a minor. But, you could have brought it up.”

 

“I was a little bit busy falling in love.”

 

He smiled at her, and asked, “You hungry? Breakfast is on the stove.”

 

As she walked into the kitchen, Ji called to her. “Elaine?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“You realize that you should never tell anyone about our marriage right? Not right now, anyways… it could ruin my career, you could be expelled from the academy… Don’t even tell Ben. He would be more than willing to tell the administration about our relationship, and would probably get sadistic pleasure out of seeing me get the ax…”

 

“I can’t imagine Ben being so vindictive. But seriously, I do realize the gravity of the situation.” She poked her head around the corner and scolded, “Relax. This is our honeymoon. Try to enjoy yourself.”

 

Ji walked up to Elaine, wrapped his arms around her waist, kissed her cheek and said, “I’m still in shock about marrying a child.”

 

Three months later

 

“You seem to be here as much as I am,” Ben told Elaine. “Summer is done and gone and yet you’re still sticking around to help the old fart.”

 

She smiled. “Yes, well, we’re very close to a breakthrough. I can feel it.”

 

He nodded. “Sure, you’re always ‘very close’. Seems to me you’re closer to flipping out from the stress than to a breakthrough.”

 

Rolling her eyes she admitted, “I am a little stressed, yes, but I love being here.”

 

“Well, I graduate soon. I’ve already been accepted at a colony as an assistant science officer.”

 

“Wonderful! I’m so happy for you Ben.”

 

“Promise me you won’t give up a commission because you are so involved with Unlce Ji’s research. You deserve your own success too.”

 

Elaine only smiled because she couldn’t tell Ben why she was still working as a research assistant. If only she could tell someone…

 

 

 

Elaine sat on the couch, looking at her mother and wonder what the woman was about to say.

 

“You are filling in, T’Lan,” T’Pen told her, setting her cup of tea down. “And in all the wrong places.”

 

Choking on her tea, Elaine sat her cup down, successfully knocking over several dishes on the table in the process. She folded her hands on her lap, not sure what to say.

 

“How far along are you, T’Lan?” her mother asked, righting the dishes and not looking her daughter in the eye.

 

“About three months,” Elaine admitted quietly. She blinked back tears, looking away from her mother.

 

T’Lan closed her eyes and sighed. “And out of wedlock. I am disappointed in you, my child.” Her eyes now connected with Elaine’s again, but T’Lan’s face remained emotionless.

 

Elaine longed for the emotional support of her father who had passed away almost eight years ago.

 

“Who is the father?” T’Pen asked coolly.

 

“I can’t disclose that information.”

 

“You mean you do not know.” T’Pen sighed. “Splendid, you do not even remember who the father is.” She looked quite disgusted.

 

Oh, I know who the father is, Elaine thought. She couldn’t hold back the tears as she thought of Ji’s response to her good news. He had not been as pleased as Elaine.

 

The display of emotion seemed to be too much for T’Pen. She got up and simply walked away, leaving Elaine crying quietly, alone.

 

To Be Continued