Quality Time Part 4
by Sabine
Zhaan and D’Argo stayed for at least a couple of hours before finally leaving. Zhaan still had some work to do in her lab and D’Argo had promised to help Jothee with something. They had discussed past events, the sacrifices they had made along the way and talked about what the future could hold in store for them. The crew of Moya treasured times like these. They could never happen enough, since they somehow always managed to get themselves in trouble. They never went looking for it, but trouble always came looking for them.
Halfway through D’Argo and Zhaan’s visit, John and Aeryn had put their son to bed. Benjamin had fallen asleep, curled up against Aeryn. He had been through quite an eventful day and it had drained his energy. After tugging him in and making sure that he hadn’t been woken by the move from the couch to his bed, they returned to their friends.
They picked up the conversation where they had left it and continued talking, but this time the conversation was more orientated on the fact that the baby was almost due. Zhaan had already started to prepare the medical facility for the birth of John and Aeryn’s daughter and Chiana had already let them known that she would look after Ben from the moment Aeryn went into labour until the baby had been born. Stark was going to help Zhaan deliver the baby.
D’Argo and he had first had a heated argument about who exactly was going to help Zhaan, until the outcome of a game of paper-rock and scissors had decided that Stark was the one to help the Delvian priestess. D’Argo had still wanted to be there, even if it meant that he could only give moral support instead of lending a hand. Jothee had volunteered to help Chiana out and thus was also going to look after Ben. Rygel had let the others know that he was working on some kind of speech, which he wanted to finish before the baby was born. Even though the little Hynerian was well known for his sometimes-selfish behaviour, he did have his moments and managed to surprise them all. Pilot had a DRD tagging along with Aeryn everywhere she went aboard Moya, just to make she was all right and had stationed another one outside John and Aeryn’s quarters.
From the moment Aeryn’s pregnancy had begun to show, she had stayed onboard Moya. She hadn’t been to a planet in months to get supplies. Aeryn had tried to keep working out, but had to realize at one point that she was unable to continue doing that, which was why she had tried to concentrate on other things. At first that meant working on John’s module and later she found other things to keep her busy.
****
After Zhaan and D’Argo had left, John and Aeryn settled down on the couch. Pretty soon they would be expected to go to the center chamber to join their crewmates for dinner. Chiana had been spending the entire afternoon in the kitchen, preparing the food for their evening meal. She had turned into quite the cook and was praised by the others for turning even the most simply meals into something fantastic.
Aeryn leaned back against John’s chest, enjoying his embrace and the momentary silence. She sighed contently as he started to leave a trail of kisses on her neck and gently brushed her hair aside in the process. John took her hands into his and let them rest on her swollen belly.
“ Meara is sure quiet…” he noted surprised as he looked at his wife. Normally their daughter was always on the move and reacting to outside stimuli.
“ Hmmm…she has been ever since her older brother made that deal with her. I guess Ben was able to convince her to remain a little bit quieter for a while. Our son seems to be really concerned for his mother’s well being,” Aeryn smiled, kissing John. Suddenly the two of them felt Meara move again.
“ Guess our daughter wanted to let us know she’s still around,” John chuckled. He let go off Aeryn’s hands and started to massage the area around his wife’s neck. Aeryn moaned softly as the massage John was giving, started to have a noticeable effect on her.
“ John…” she whispered as her lips brushed his. He could see the obvious desire in her eyes and moved closer so he could kiss her. This was the first time in all those months that they really had been alone. Ever since the others found out about the pregnancy, they had always been around in one way or another. John and Aeryn never knew when one of their friends would surprise them and pop up in front of them.
“ Aeryn, are you sure?” John asked as they gazed into each other’s eyes. He tugged a strand of Aeryn’s raven black hair behind her ear. Cupping her face with his hands, he waited for an answer. He didn’t have to wait long for one…
“ Yes. I am sure,” she spoke, kissing him hungrily. They continued to kiss as John got up from the couch and pulled her up along with him. “ Ben?”
“ Asleep…” John answered between kisses, quickly glancing over at their son’s room. Even if Ben had been awake he probably wouldn’t have noticed it. It was pitch black in Ben’s bedroom and he couldn’t hear anything, so he concluded that their son must still be asleep. John wasn’t looking forward to a situation similar to the one of about 8 months ago, where Ben had walked in on his parents. Luckily they had still been in the “kissing” stage, so the damage and embarrassment had been minimal.
John led Aeryn to their bedroom. They briefly stopped at the entrance, believing that one of there crewmates would have chosen that moment to comm them. When nothing happened, they got back to the kissing and made their way over to their bed. They lay down on the bed and just as John was trying to unbutton Aeryn’s vest, the inevitable happened.
<Beep> <beep> <beep>
“ Frell…” John and Aeryn both simultaneously mumbled.
“ John…Aeryn?” a voice echoed through their bedroom.
“ Yes, Chi. What is it?” John managed to bring out. Either their crewmates had the worst timing ever recorded in the galaxy’s history or simply the uncanny ability to feel that something was happening or about to happen between Aeryn and him.
“ I just wanted to let you guys know that dinner is ready and that I’ll expect to see ya in a quarter of an arn, old man,” the Nebari informed casually.
“ Thanks, Pip. See ya then.”
John sighed and shook his head in disbelief. “ How do they * do * it? Did Pilot send in one of those DRD’s to spy on us? I swear…this is getting uncanny and just plain ridiculous.”
“ We could have known that we were going to be interrupted, John. We always eat dinner around this time of day,” Aeryn reasoned as she got up from the bed with some difficulty. “ I’d better wake up Ben and get him dressed.”
“ No, Aeryn. Let me do that. You need to relax a bit, honey. You haven’t been sleeping well and you yourself said that you were feeling tired. Besides I…”
“ John…I really want to do this.”
“So there’s no way of talking you out of this, huh?” John grinned, looking at his wife’s blue eyes.
“ None whatsoever, John,” Aeryn smiled as she headed towards Ben’s room.
****
He looked so peaceful when he was asleep and so innocent. When she had been his age she was already being trained to become a Peacekeeper soldier. If there was one thing she wanted for her son and daughter, it was for them to grow up in freedom. * I will never let any harm come to you and your brother, little one. I promise. I will die before I’d let you be taken by the Peacekeepers. I don’t want you to grow the way I did…never knowing where you came from and who your parents were. * Aeryn thought as she felt Meara move again.
She sat down on the bed, next to the sleeping figure of her son. He looked a lot like she had done when she was little, but despite the fact that she recognized a lot of herself in her son, she also saw a lot of John in him. Aeryn had been terrified when she first found out that she was pregnant of her son. She had been afraid that she would turn out be a terrible mother, since she never had a mother to turn to when she was growing up. Aeryn didn’t even have the faintest idea of how to be a mother. If only the person she had been back then could see her now.
Aeryn gently touched Ben’s shoulder and watched him stir. “ Ben? Honey? It’s time to wake up. Dinner is ready. We need to get you dressed. Daddy is already waiting for us.”
As Ben heard his mother’s voice he slowly opened his eyes. “ Mommy?”
“ Yes. It’s me, honey.”
“ I thought I was dreaming when I heard your voice, mommy,” he yawned as he rubbed his eyes.
“ Are you disappointed to find out that this isn’t a dream?” she asked teasingly, giving him a kiss on his forehead. He shook his head and a grin appeared on his face. “Nah…not at all, mommy,” Ben replied as he sat up straight in his bed. “ Has she behaved?” he curiously asked while placing his hand on his mother’s tummy.
“ Yes, she has certainly done that,” Aeryn answered truthfully as she pulled the blankets Ben was laying underneath aside. She got up from Ben’s bed and started to collect some of his clothes. Ben quickly hopped out of bed and picked up his boots from the floor and followed Aeryn to the bathroom.
****
The Center Chamber:
When John, Aeryn and Ben had finally arrived at the Center chamber, all of their friends were already there. They were all patiently waiting at the table, except for Chiana who was putting some finishing touches to a couple of the prepared dishes.
“ Auntie Chiana!” Ben exclaimed as he ran towards the Nebari.
“ Hey there, Benny-boy!” Chiana returned as she picked him up in her arms. “ How is my favourite little kid doing?”
“ Um…I’m still the only little kid you know, auntie Chiana. Especially since my sister hasn’t been born yet,” Ben stated as a matter of factly. Chiana grinned at the answer and put Ben back onto his own two feet and on the floor. The boy immediately ran to his chair and quickly sat down on it. As the others were talking with him, Chiana turned her attention to John and Aeryn.
“ I hope I didn’t interrupt something when I commed you,” Chiana asked innocently as she looked at her two friends. Judging by John’s reaction back then, the way he had sounded and the way they were looking at one another after she had asked that question, she pieced together the pieces of the puzzle. They had indeed being doing something and thus she had interrupted them.
“ No, Pip. Sorry to disappoint you, but nothing happened for you to interrupt,” John lied, hoping that the Nebari wouldn’t pick it up.
“ If you say so, John…” Chiana laughed.“ Have a seat and enjoy the food.” She grabbed the last couple of plates left and placed them on the table alongside the other plates. John smiled and made his way over to his chair. He had expected Aeryn to follow him and was surprised to find out that his wife was still standing at the same spot, where he had previously been standing with her.
“ Honey…what’s wrong?” John asked concerned.
“ John. I think it’s time…” Aeryn answered as she reached for her swollen belly.
TBC…