Fortune {Star Trek Enterprise Fan Fiction}

Beckoning and Reckoning

"I want to talk to someone who knows about more than just conquering things. Someone who's read a book or two. And maybe kiss that woman a few times, too. And more if she'll let me. Will she?" – Aidan MacKenzie

"I don't go by half-measures. And I will love and support you both day and night, kiddo, like I have ever since we met." – Leonora Digiorno

=/\=

"Transitions and errors," Q said, "Yours, perhaps, are minor ones. But ours – they can affect the entire galaxy."

"Yes, collateral damage, right?" Lili asked.

"Correct."

"So you need to be careful. I mean, when Doug and I fight, we're careful so that the children don't hear. I imagine Malcolm and I will need to do the same."

"You also, you don't always get along with Melissa, either."

"That's right," Lili admitted, "There's push and pull there as well."

"Push and pull."

"But – is there a peacemaker among you?" she asked.

"Yes. For the most part, it's Joy," he said.

"But you've fought with her at some point, right?"

"Not often," he said, "Although it does happen on occasion. And you have a peacemaker as well, right?"

"Yes," Lili said, "It's Melissa, actually. She – well – recently Doug and I had quite a row. It was about Joss's schooling. Doug wanted Joss to go to a regular school. He argued that Joss is too big, and too smart for a pre-school program. But he's only three, you see, so I argued that Joss should be home. Melissa is the one who got to the bottom of it, for Doug and I were too busy picking at each other to get to the heart of the matter. And it was, well, Doug was concerned that Joss would be so big, and he'd be bored by the lessons, that he would bully the smaller children. And my end of it, it was that I was seeing my little boy growing up so fast, it bothered me. I mean, I know it'll be a long time before the nest is empty, but I hated – I still do – that they grow up so quickly. It's the mirror genes. Joss is three, but he looks and acts about twice that."

"And the outcome?"

"We sent Joss – he just started – to a regular preschool."

"So you won the argument?"

"No, well, not really. It was a compromise. And Doug got something he wanted, which was for Joss to also go into Little League. And, well, he now hits a tee ball with kids who are, chronologically, one to two years older than him. But it's good for him, as he works off any frustrations he may be having. He's a sweet and gentle child, and I can see the future veterinarian in him. But he's also a big kid, so yeah, if he loses his patience, he could hurt another kid. This works out best for everyone."

"And in the mirror, during the alternate timeline, he was a ballplayer anyway."

"That's right," Lili said, "But that was also because, on that side, they don't exactly value vets. He, it's pretty obvious, he grows up well," she picked up the baby, "This is the only one who's going to remain a child for as long as he should."

"You'll have more diapers to change."

"That's true. And I can't say that I'll never complain about that. But it's all right," she said.

He was distant again briefly, "We should go soon. Another event."

"This one will be negative, right? It's Norri's death."

Q nodded as the room began to transform.

=/\=

"I'm no teacher, but I can clean the erasers or something." – Aidan MacKenzie

"I know why you fell so hard, and so fast. It's 'cause, you just know." – Jennifer Crossman

"I guess we're gonna be parents. You, me and him." – Leonora Digiorno

=/\=

It was a crowded bedroom.

Lili counted eighteen people. There were Joss and Jia, off to the side, with their two kids. Jay looked like a young man; Shaoqing was a teenager. Then Tommy in a Major's uniform, sitting on the edge of the bed, and Declan behind him. Then she saw Marie Patrice with Ken Masterson, and Kelly, who was, perhaps, about thirty or so. And then there were Neil and Ines, with their two kids. Jennifer Leonora was a young woman. Martin Kevin was about eighteen or so. Yinora was there, with her husband and her three children. There was also a silver Calafan nurse who would pop in and out on occasion.

Lili looked at the clock on the wall – September second, 2212 – and the time was sixteen hundred hours.

"Malcolm's centennial," she said, "And Joss – he's, um, fifty-four today."

Q just directed her back.

"I bet you're all waiting for me to say something really profound," came a trembling voice, and Lili saw the nineteenth person. It was Norri, in the bed. She looked shrunken, tired and sick, "But I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you all."

"You won't, Ma," said Tommy, and she reached up and tousled his hair.

Lili went over to Shaoqing as she saw that the girl had a PADD with her that had gone into sleep mode. It scrolled through photographs – Kelly Masterson's High School graduation, and Joss and Jia's wedding and the Bat Mitzvah photo of Lili with Malcolm and Declan and the Shapiros and their two daughters. Then there was the short movie of Marie Patrice kicking the soccer goal. Another photograph was of Doug and Lili's wedding. Another was of Declan in front of the Eiffel Tower, and another of him in front of the ruins of Pompeii, painting.

"Got room for one more in there?" asked the nurse.

"Sure," Norri said.

It was a woman, in her late thirties perhaps, with thick black hair and greyish-blue eyes, "Sorry I'm late," she said, first to Declan, and then she came over and kissed Norri on the cheek. Then she went back to stand next to Declan.

"Who's that?" Lili asked.

"Hang on," Q said. He brought her over to where Shaoqing was standing, and indicated the PADD. Q flicked a finger near it and it returned to the Bat Mitzvah photo. From left to right, in the back, Lili saw Ethan, then Karin, then Declan, then her and Malcolm. And in the front were the elder Shapiro daughter – the Bat Mitzvah girl – and the younger one. And Lili noticed something she hadn't before – that the younger daughter was poking Declan in the ribs.

"Who is she, Q?"

"Rebecca Shapiro," he said.

"She's how old in the photo?"

"Eight."

"And Declan was twenty-two, or almost, if I recall correctly. So, this young girl has a crush on him. It's pretty obvious from the photo that she's flirting. And he thinks nothing of it, and goes off to live his life. And he marries."

"Yes, he weds Louise Schiller in 2187. The, uh, that photograph is from 2183."

"But then he gets a divorce," Lili said.

"In 2190."

"And he goes on, and he mourns the end of his marriage and he loses his parents and – I am guessing recently – he heads off to Europe."

"Yes. It was at Leonora's insistence, after Melissa's death."

"I thought you didn't pay attention to details, Q."

"An exception," he said, "Nothing more."

"Did he go with her?" Lili asked.

"No. They – well, here. There are photographs," he flicked his finger again and the PADD showed four photographs, all in four quadrants. There were the two she'd already seen, of Declan in front of the Eiffel Tower and another of him painting the ruins of Pompeii. Another was just of Monet's water lilies, at Giverny. And the last one was of Declan and Rebecca, standing in front of Tower Bridge in London. He had his arm around her and it seemed a little tentative.

"When was the trip?"

"Last summer. 2211," he flicked his finger again and the photographic slide show went back to a random mode, and a picture of Marie Patrice with Andorian, Calafan and human models in front of an MP Fashions sign slid by.

"So they're together for less than a year."

"Yes. Watch."