Lilly/Taylor - New Decisions

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's suppose to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanised him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

Nodding at the request Taylor stepped closer to Lillian, stroking her stomach while he shook his head. If Lillian was asking if he could feel kicks then there was nothing. "Nope, but when I do feel it I'll know. Lucas' kick hard." he said teasingly, moving his hand off her stomach to lace fingers with one of her hands.

Gently nipping at her lips he smiled with a beaming look on his lips. "When will you take maternity leave? Get some time off your feet? Let Marlo and Gabe run the ship for a moment so I can give you a little sugar..."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

Nodding at the request Taylor stepped closer to Lillian, stroking her stomach while he shook his head. If Lillian was asking if he could feel kicks then there was nothing. "Nope, but when I do feel it I'll know. Lucas' kick hard." he said teasingly, moving his hand off her stomach to lace fingers with one of her hands.

Gently nipping at her lips he smiled with a beaming look on his lips. "When will you take maternity leave? Get some time off your feet? Let Marlo and Gabe run the ship for a moment so I can give you a little sugar..."

"Maybe in three months?" Lillian asked as she kissed him tenderly, needing to feel his warm lips on hers. "Then I'll be at the eight month mark and there will be only two months left until we have a baby...can you take some paternity leave to take me to Betazed month 9? I wanna have our baby on Betazed."

Sareth came out to set the table, smiling at his parents and then keeping his mouth shut as he made sure everything was set up to eat. He was glad they were getting along because he knew his mother was in a mood and he didn't know why. So he just kept to himself as Lillian held Taylor's hand and tried to forget about what Elena had said even though it was front most at the back of her mind.

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

Nodding at the request Taylor stepped closer to Lillian, stroking her stomach while he shook his head. If Lillian was asking if he could feel kicks then there was nothing. "Nope, but when I do feel it I'll know. Lucas' kick hard." he said teasingly, moving his hand off her stomach to lace fingers with one of her hands.

Gently nipping at her lips he smiled with a beaming look on his lips. "When will you take maternity leave? Get some time off your feet? Let Marlo and Gabe run the ship for a moment so I can give you a little sugar..."

"Maybe in three months?" Lillian asked as she kissed him tenderly, needing to feel his warm lips on hers. "Then I'll be at the eight month mark and there will be only two months left until we have a baby...can you take some paternity leave to take me to Betazed month 9? I wanna have our baby on Betazed."

Sareth came out to set the table, smiling at his parents and then keeping his mouth shut as he made sure everything was set up to eat. He was glad they were getting along because he knew his mother was in a mood and he didn't know why. So he just kept to himself as Lillian held Taylor's hand and tried to forget about what Elena had said even though it was front most at the back of her mind.

"Just get off your feet ASAP captain, your marine commander is worried." he mused with a tilted head. "And Betazed is a perfect idea. Not like we'll be going back to Earth any time soon. Besides it is my current commanding officer of the time of the request who grants it so Marlo will probably understand. If not...then we'll see. It all depends on the circumstances.

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

Nodding at the request Taylor stepped closer to Lillian, stroking her stomach while he shook his head. If Lillian was asking if he could feel kicks then there was nothing. "Nope, but when I do feel it I'll know. Lucas' kick hard." he said teasingly, moving his hand off her stomach to lace fingers with one of her hands.

Gently nipping at her lips he smiled with a beaming look on his lips. "When will you take maternity leave? Get some time off your feet? Let Marlo and Gabe run the ship for a moment so I can give you a little sugar..."

"Maybe in three months?" Lillian asked as she kissed him tenderly, needing to feel his warm lips on hers. "Then I'll be at the eight month mark and there will be only two months left until we have a baby...can you take some paternity leave to take me to Betazed month 9? I wanna have our baby on Betazed."

Sareth came out to set the table, smiling at his parents and then keeping his mouth shut as he made sure everything was set up to eat. He was glad they were getting along because he knew his mother was in a mood and he didn't know why. So he just kept to himself as Lillian held Taylor's hand and tried to forget about what Elena had said even though it was front most at the back of her mind.

"Just get off your feet ASAP captain, your marine commander is worried." he mused with a tilted head. "And Betazed is a perfect idea. Not like we'll be going back to Earth any time soon. Besides it is my current commanding officer of the time of the request who grants it so Marlo will probably understand. If not...then we'll see. It all depends on the circumstances.

"I had Sareth on Betazed and I plan on having all the others there," she told him with a smile.

Then she kissed him swiftly and returned to the food, getting it into serving bowls and smiling at her son as she thought about what Taylor had said about Earth. That opened up a whole other can of worms and she wondered if she even had a right to ask such a question. Then again they were getting married and she needed to have such things squared away for lists of guests and everything.

"Yes, Earth...if it's possible..." Lillian trailed off a little bit because she almost felt like she was crossing over a line as she started to dish out the food. "Can I meet your parents? I feel guilty getting married 1)without meeting them and 2)without getting their blessing. In fact, I don't even know if I have Reneé's permission to marry you or not."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

Nodding at the request Taylor stepped closer to Lillian, stroking her stomach while he shook his head. If Lillian was asking if he could feel kicks then there was nothing. "Nope, but when I do feel it I'll know. Lucas' kick hard." he said teasingly, moving his hand off her stomach to lace fingers with one of her hands.

Gently nipping at her lips he smiled with a beaming look on his lips. "When will you take maternity leave? Get some time off your feet? Let Marlo and Gabe run the ship for a moment so I can give you a little sugar..."

"Maybe in three months?" Lillian asked as she kissed him tenderly, needing to feel his warm lips on hers. "Then I'll be at the eight month mark and there will be only two months left until we have a baby...can you take some paternity leave to take me to Betazed month 9? I wanna have our baby on Betazed."

Sareth came out to set the table, smiling at his parents and then keeping his mouth shut as he made sure everything was set up to eat. He was glad they were getting along because he knew his mother was in a mood and he didn't know why. So he just kept to himself as Lillian held Taylor's hand and tried to forget about what Elena had said even though it was front most at the back of her mind.

"Just get off your feet ASAP captain, your marine commander is worried." he mused with a tilted head. "And Betazed is a perfect idea. Not like we'll be going back to Earth any time soon. Besides it is my current commanding officer of the time of the request who grants it so Marlo will probably understand. If not...then we'll see. It all depends on the circumstances.

"I had Sareth on Betazed and I plan on having all the others there," she told him with a smile.

Then she kissed him swiftly and returned to the food, getting it into serving bowls and smiling at her son as she thought about what Taylor had said about Earth. That opened up a whole other can of worms and she wondered if she even had a right to ask such a question. Then again they were getting married and she needed to have such things squared away for lists of guests and everything.

"Yes, Earth...if it's possible..." Lillian trailed off a little bit because she almost felt like she was crossing over a line as she started to dish out the food. "Can I meet your parents? I feel guilty getting married 1)without meeting them and 2)without getting their blessing. In fact, I don't even know if I have Reneé's permission to marry you or not."

At the mention of his parents Taylor's smile disappeared in an instant replaced by a grim look. "I've not spoke to my parents in twenty-two years. We didn't exactly leave on good terms." he said flatly. In fact they had left on horrible terms. His father had poured all the resources he could into giving Taylor the best education possible in the hopes that he'd follow in his footsteps and be a highly successful doctor. Instead Taylor took his intelligence and learning to the marines. A waste in the eyes of his father who lost his temper at Taylor's betrayal and beat him up and down the house.

"Besides Reneé has accepted I'm marrying you. We don't exactly need permission from anyone. We're in our thirties now and the only people we answer to have admiral pips and general stars. I have no desire to return to my home planet yet alone meet my parents again."

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

Nodding at the request Taylor stepped closer to Lillian, stroking her stomach while he shook his head. If Lillian was asking if he could feel kicks then there was nothing. "Nope, but when I do feel it I'll know. Lucas' kick hard." he said teasingly, moving his hand off her stomach to lace fingers with one of her hands.

Gently nipping at her lips he smiled with a beaming look on his lips. "When will you take maternity leave? Get some time off your feet? Let Marlo and Gabe run the ship for a moment so I can give you a little sugar..."

"Maybe in three months?" Lillian asked as she kissed him tenderly, needing to feel his warm lips on hers. "Then I'll be at the eight month mark and there will be only two months left until we have a baby...can you take some paternity leave to take me to Betazed month 9? I wanna have our baby on Betazed."

Sareth came out to set the table, smiling at his parents and then keeping his mouth shut as he made sure everything was set up to eat. He was glad they were getting along because he knew his mother was in a mood and he didn't know why. So he just kept to himself as Lillian held Taylor's hand and tried to forget about what Elena had said even though it was front most at the back of her mind.

"Just get off your feet ASAP captain, your marine commander is worried." he mused with a tilted head. "And Betazed is a perfect idea. Not like we'll be going back to Earth any time soon. Besides it is my current commanding officer of the time of the request who grants it so Marlo will probably understand. If not...then we'll see. It all depends on the circumstances.

"I had Sareth on Betazed and I plan on having all the others there," she told him with a smile.

Then she kissed him swiftly and returned to the food, getting it into serving bowls and smiling at her son as she thought about what Taylor had said about Earth. That opened up a whole other can of worms and she wondered if she even had a right to ask such a question. Then again they were getting married and she needed to have such things squared away for lists of guests and everything.

"Yes, Earth...if it's possible..." Lillian trailed off a little bit because she almost felt like she was crossing over a line as she started to dish out the food. "Can I meet your parents? I feel guilty getting married 1)without meeting them and 2)without getting their blessing. In fact, I don't even know if I have Reneé's permission to marry you or not."

At the mention of his parents Taylor's smile disappeared in an instant replaced by a grim look. "I've not spoke to my parents in twenty-two years. We didn't exactly leave on good terms." he said flatly. In fact they had left on horrible terms. His father had poured all the resources he could into giving Taylor the best education possible in the hopes that he'd follow in his footsteps and be a highly successful doctor. Instead Taylor took his intelligence and learning to the marines. A waste in the eyes of his father who lost his temper at Taylor's betrayal and beat him up and down the house.

"Besides Reneé has accepted I'm marrying you. We don't exactly need permission from anyone. We're in our thirties now and the only people we answer to have admiral pips and general stars. I have no desire to return to my home planet yet alone meet my parents again."

"You're in your thirties," the brunette said and then took Taylor's hand in hers nodding. "You're right, baby. If you don't want to see them, you shouldn't have to. I'll drop it. Shall we eat?"

||USS Fenris
||Taylor's and Lillian's Quarters
||1820


Lillian took a deep breath as she made dinner that night, Taylor doing some work in his little office area carved out in their giant living area since she was the Captain, and Sareth was in the Living Area painting a picture as he talked on and on about what he had liked about the new Daycare. She was glad that he was happy and yet she was in a mood from her talk with Elena and Marlo and she kind of just wanted to talk to Taylor...then again she didn't. Maybe he wouldn't care if she changed so much. Maybe she could just change and he'd just accept what she became.

Marriage didn't work like that though.

She really needed to talk to him about things but she couldn't just bring them up because he would just try and make her feel better about them and he couldn't fix this one. There was too much that had been crushed for her and she really didn't even know how to bring it up, but Taylor knew how she was when she was upset and knew when she was in a funk. He'd see right through her and that made her sigh loudly again.

"And there's a boy named, Colin--I think he'll be my new friend. He's almost 5." Sareth explained, smiling at his mother and then going back to painting as she smiled a little at him and tried to make it as genuine as possible. "Daddy might get along with his Dad too."

"I always get along with people." called Taylor from his office as he went through the process of accepting a medic for his team. She'd arrive by another ship which was fine by him. It didn't even bother Taylor that the woman who might be saving his life or the life of his team was an Ex-Borg Drone. If anything that meant she was probably chocked full with information he could use. A medic and a walking data bank to boot.

"Yes, smashingly so," Lillian muttered to herself about Taylor getting along with everyone, talking only soft enough for herself to hear. "Sometimes he even proposes when he thinks they're leaving."

With a smile he left the office and settled in the kitchen, kissing Sareth's head and then Lillian's cheek. He held her close as she made dinner with a stupid grin on his face. "You should meet my MXO, he's actually rather nice. A bit blunt for half this crew but that's the appeal. What is actually on the menu..."

She quickly shook it off as she heard Taylor coming out of his office and then tried to relax when he kissed her cheek and held her close. Lillian just wanted to be cute and happy, but her whole idea of them had shattered to pieces when Elena had opened her big mouth and while it wasn't on purpose, Lillian had been crushed. She felt...she felt like Taylor's second choice--his back-up.

Once Lillian had been certain that she had changed Taylor's mind about settling down and having kids, but she hadn't. No...no, that had been Sarah. Redheaded, too timid to fight, Sarah, who had ignored the summons to come to him when Lillian had to perform brain surgery on him and then left him in her Sickbay in a coma to run off and join another ship.

"Fettuccine with crab, and then some shallots and potatoes," Lillian responded as she cut up some shallots and reached for the oil to put in the pan to cook up the shallots and potatoes.

"Oh, lovely." said Taylor warmly as he kissed Lillian once more on the forehead before settling against the kitchen unit with his arms crossed. Life was grand. A new marine unit, his step-son back and his pregnant fiancée living with him. It was like fate had put up barriers and trials for him to try and overcome. Now he was being rewarded with career and family.

"You know I love you right? More than anything?" offered the marine with a smile as he looked at his chrono. It was odd not having to work so many shifts with just an elite squad under his command which meant more family time. A godsend with a child on the way. However Dariak and Taylor had agreed to go about decorating the rec-room for Omega squad to make it a place for them to gear up and settle down when they didn't want to mingle with the crew.

"After dinner I'm going to give the old marine mess a decoration make-over with the rest of Omega. You'd like my new medic too. She's supposed to be arriving in a few hours so I dropped a message for her to report to the room. She's an Ex-Drone but I hear she's good with a medical tricorder."

"I know that, but you shouldn't feel obligated to," Lillian told him, the words escaping before she could suck them back in.

She poured the oil into the pan and listened to it sizzle as Sareth looked up a moment, having heard what she said and being curious about it. Lillian put the cut up shallots and potatoes into the pan and grabbed a spatula to use on them, sighing a little bit. Taylor and Sareth were just so happy and she couldn't go and ruin it like this, so she had to make this better somehow.

"Ex-Drone?" Lillian asked, trying to change the subject as she also checked on the noodles and went for the cream and the cheese to make the sauce with. "I'd love to meet her."

"I never feel obligated to love you, I do it without condition." countered Taylor as he held Lillian from behind, watching her cook. "I want to marry you for your pros and cons. Don't ever doubt that my love." It was true for what he said and he loved Lillian deeply. As much as any man could love a woman. She humanized him, tempered him. Made him more of a man than the Corps ever could.

Smiling at Lillian's quick acceptance of one of his squad he nodded. "She'll fit in with our bunch of weirdos. Even got a guy who's race genetically enhance themselves. Then there's me, I'm a weirdo right?"

Lillian relaxed for a moment into him and closed her eyes just for a second with a small smile on her face because being in Taylor's arms always made her feel better. She wouldn't be completely better without talking to him first but at the same time she felt as if she wasn't being fair to him being upset without him knowing exactly why. The two of them were better when they were figuring things out together, but she didn't want to fight with him in front of Sareth.

"You're not a weirdo," she said slowly as she cooked up the food and started making the fettuccine sauce. "I'll try to make her feel at home--not everyone is going to be nice to her because she was once Borg. I dunno how everyone will feel about this Vulpine of yours either. Our job is to keep them happy and feeling accepted--I trust your judgment though...you know that."

"I'm a weirdo because I'm a marine, ask anyone in Fleet." said Taylor cheerfully as he kissed the back of Lillian's neck before moving away again. "Besides, doesn't matter what they are, their arses belong to me now. They're mine and I'll stand by them. You know me; if you fight with me I'll fight for you against anyone."

Even before meeting his full squad Taylor felt some loyalty to them simply because they were marines or fleet. The uniform gave him all the reason to trust them to watch his back. Taylor hoped that they trusted him to lead them into battle. He knew Nayla did without a doubt but the others were something he worried about.

"They'll all trust you," Lillian told him as she added the crab to the Fettuccine. "Sareth, honey--please wash up for dinner and be careful not to...knock the paints over..."

She took a deep breath as she rested her hand on her stomach, laughing a little bit happily and then looking at Taylor. At first it must have seemed like something was wrong as she leaned on the counter a moment, Sareth rushing off to clean up, but then she looked at Taylor and motioned him over. There were things they needed to share together and this was one of those moments...in fact for a moment nothing else mattered.

"Come here, I want you to feel something," she said happily, grabbing his hand and resting it one the side of her stomach near the bottom of the ever expanding five month along belly. "Can you feel that? It might be too early for you to, but I can definitely feel it."

Nodding at the request Taylor stepped closer to Lillian, stroking her stomach while he shook his head. If Lillian was asking if he could feel kicks then there was nothing. "Nope, but when I do feel it I'll know. Lucas' kick hard." he said teasingly, moving his hand off her stomach to lace fingers with one of her hands.

Gently nipping at her lips he smiled with a beaming look on his lips. "When will you take maternity leave? Get some time off your feet? Let Marlo and Gabe run the ship for a moment so I can give you a little sugar..."

"Maybe in three months?" Lillian asked as she kissed him tenderly, needing to feel his warm lips on hers. "Then I'll be at the eight month mark and there will be only two months left until we have a baby...can you take some paternity leave to take me to Betazed month 9? I wanna have our baby on Betazed."

Sareth came out to set the table, smiling at his parents and then keeping his mouth shut as he made sure everything was set up to eat. He was glad they were getting along because he knew his mother was in a mood and he didn't know why. So he just kept to himself as Lillian held Taylor's hand and tried to forget about what Elena had said even though it was front most at the back of her mind.

"Just get off your feet ASAP captain, your marine commander is worried." he mused with a tilted head. "And Betazed is a perfect idea. Not like we'll be going back to Earth any time soon. Besides it is my current commanding officer of the time of the request who grants it so Marlo will probably understand. If not...then we'll see. It all depends on the circumstances.

"I had Sareth on Betazed and I plan on having all the others there," she told him with a smile.

Then she kissed him swiftly and returned to the food, getting it into serving bowls and smiling at her son as she thought about what Taylor had said about Earth. That opened up a whole other can of worms and she wondered if she even had a right to ask such a question. Then again they were getting married and she needed to have such things squared away for lists of guests and everything.

"Yes, Earth...if it's possible..." Lillian trailed off a little bit because she almost felt like she was crossing over a line as she started to dish out the food. "Can I meet your parents? I feel guilty getting married 1)without meeting them and 2)without getting their blessing. In fact, I don't even know if I have Reneé's permission to marry you or not."

At the mention of his parents Taylor's smile disappeared in an instant replaced by a grim look. "I've not spoke to my parents in twenty-two years. We didn't exactly leave on good terms." he said flatly. In fact they had left on horrible terms. His father had poured all the resources he could into giving Taylor the best education possible in the hopes that he'd follow in his footsteps and be a highly successful doctor. Instead Taylor took his intelligence and learning to the marines. A waste in the eyes of his father who lost his temper at Taylor's betrayal and beat him up and down the house.

"Besides Reneé has accepted I'm marrying you. We don't exactly need permission from anyone. We're in our thirties now and the only people we answer to have admiral pips and general stars. I have no desire to return to my home planet yet alone meet my parents again."

"You're in your thirties," the brunette said and then took Taylor's hand in hers nodding. "You're right, baby. If you don't want to see them, you shouldn't have to. I'll drop it. Shall we eat?"

"We shall eat, love and live together in bliss." cooed Taylor who kissed Lillian's hand.

(le fin?)