Prelude To Titanic || Book VIII ~UNDER SERIOUS EDITING

6| You Have My Word ~UNEDITED

Location: Riker Household
Date: May. 19. 2399

It takes Natalia a near twenty minutes to coax Leanna out of her bathroom once enters the house, and by the time the girls make it down to breakfast, everyone else is already seated.

"Good morning, girls," Deanna greets the two as they take their seats.

"Good morning," Natalia responds politely while Leanna mutters a soft, "Morning."

"So," Deanna continues, "did everyone have sleep well last night?"

The entire table, save for Will and Leanna. Jean-Lucas starts up a conversation in order to ease the tension in the room.

"I'm nearly done with my transporter," he says.

"Really?" Natalia asks. "What does it look like so far?"

"Well, I originally started out with an expandable capsule, but after giving Yaress some tips on how to construct a portable time device he'd been working on, I decided to go with a watch, but this is just the prototypical version."

Deanna's motherly instincts kick in at the mention of her eldest son building some strange device. "What would Yaress need with a time device, when he serves aboard a timeship?"

Jean-Lucas shrugs. "You'll have to ask him that," he tells her, "he was pretty vague on the details. I'm sure he isn't doing anything illegal, Mom," he assures her.

"You're forgetting it's Yaress Riker we're talking about," Jakke points out, "the very same Yaress Riker who spent several weeks with an alien in a blue box.

"What did Yaress call him?" Natalia asks. "Was it....The Doctor?"

Deanna nods. "We've actually met the Doctor a few times," she says, "about a few decades ago aboard the Enterprise. He also taught at the Academy during Yaress's senior year."

"I hope to meet him someday," Jean-Lucas says wistfully. "I'd like to challenge his intellect."

"You like to challenge everyone's intellect," Deanna retorts, before turning to her husband. "Will, the food is delicious, as always." the kids and Mr. Homn nod their approval.

"Thanks," Will responds. "Mr. Homn got the eggs from the barn earlier this morning."

"It's true, Big Bird laid a quite a large batch," Mr. Homn says, referring to their largest chicken.

"Since we've got you talking, Homn, how about you tell us about your trip to Betazed."

The man sets down his fork. "Well, Lwaxana and Baron send their love, they're also coming down for the Leanna's commencement ceremony."

"Mrs. Troi is awesome," Natalia says, "she has a great sense of fashion."

"Yeah, and that's only one of her many qualities," Will says sarcatiacally.

Deanna throws a bit of toast across the table at him, but he only proceeds to catch it swiftly in his mouth.

The woman rolls her eyes before looking over to her daughter, whom everyone had left the alone, giving her the chance to speak if she so desired, but Deanna as she watches her blankly stare at her plate of untouched food, she decides that she can't wait for Leanna to make the first move.

Leanna, sweetheart, she says softly. Are you alright?

Leanna jumps slightly, slowly lifting living head to look at her mother. I don't know, she says, her mental voice cracking.

That's all I need to hear.

Deanna stands. "Does anyone want seconds?" she asks aloud, to which Jakke, Jean-Lucas, Natalia and Mr. Homn all respond with a raise of the hand.