Random Baby Story
Oct. 19th, 2009 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
It was a beautiful spring day in San Francisco. Amara loved days like this. She was a warm-weather creature at heart, and she always hated the gray haze that often enveloped the city. On days like this she couldn’t stand to be inside, but she had a lot of work to do. Therefore, she decided to take it outside, which involved quite a bit of effort because not only did she have to take herself and her work, but also her baby and all the accessories that came with her.
Luckily, Lalita was a surprisingly good-natured baby, and came along quite happily. She was perfectly content to sit on a blanket and examine her toys, or if they proved to be boring, her feet and hands seemed to always fascinate her. She would be occupied for at least an hour or two, and then hopefully she would fall asleep, allowing Amara to get her studying done.
Unfortunately, while Lalita was sweet and good-natured, she also attracted a lot of attention. Fellow cadets and even instructors would stop and talk to her, and she would look up at them and give a big smile, which would encourage them to stay longer, and even sometimes pick her up. Amara would smile politely and respond to the usual questions, but really the interruptions were a little annoying. She supposed it was the curse of having a sweet and adorable baby. The child attracted people.
Today Lalita seemed to be putting on a show for everyone. She had discovered that her stuffed rabbit’s ears would fly up when she waved it and that apparently was even more entertaining than her feet. She’d flap her little arm as hard as she could, staring at the rabbit, then she would shriek with baby giggles which were so cute she could probably make the most disciplined Vulcan smile. It was downright infectious. Amara had to take a video and send it to Frank.
“Lalita! Wave to Daddy!” She said, getting her to look at the camera. Lalita smiled up at the camera then flapped her arm. The rabbit ears caught her attention and she began giggling so hard she fell over on her side. Amara laughed and turned off the camera, after transmitting it to Frank. “You are so silly.” She said, tickling her a little. She was so involved with her daughter she didn’t notice the approaching Admiral.
“Cadet Smith?”
Her good mood immediately faded. Admiral O’Donnell was one of her least favorite people in Starfleet. She swore the man had it in for her from day one, ridiculing her in class, making her redo assignments because while her answers were correct, she arrived at them the wrong way. Mathematical calculations were her weakest point, and the man knew it and used it against her daily.
She stood, picking up Lalita and resting the baby on her hip. “Admiral.” She greeted simply.
“Cadet,” O’Donnell studied Lalita closely, who gave him her sweet little smile like she always did when people looked at her long enough. “Whose baby is this?”
That surprised her. She thought every instructor at the Academy knew she had a baby. Coming back from her field training with a little bundle of joy had created quite the stir, particularly since it had been with the Chief of Security. Getting pregnant had been bad enough, but to get pregnant with a senior officer? That raised some serious eyebrows.
“Mine, sir.”
“Yours?” O’Donnell looked surprised, and studied the baby, then Amara. “I see…” Then he did something unexpected. He smiled at the girl. That convinced Amara that her theory that no one could resist the cuteness of her daughter was in fact, correct. “What’s her name, Cadet?”
“Lalita, sir.” She answered, bouncing her daughter a little.
“Lalita.” He smiled a little again, shaking the baby’s hand. “Nice to meet you, little miss.”
Amara smiled too. This was surprising. It seemed Admiral O’Donnell had a soft-spot for babies. Who knew?
“Well, she looks like you. Of course, you look like your mother too.”
“Yes well… what?” It took a second for her to realize what he said, but then her attention was immediately turned from her daughter to the Admiral. It was true, she did look exactly like her mother. She usually hated being told that, and fortunately, no one in her life right now had ever met her mother, so she didn’t have to hear it. But how could O’Donnell know? A picture might be in her file, but she doubted it. “How could you know that, sir?”
The Admiral turned bright red and muttered something about records. He then quickly made his excuses and left. Amara watched him go, speechless. She’d never known her father…. and her mother never told her who he was… could it be possible?
She looked at Lalita and raised an eyebrow. “Well? What do you think?” She asked, receiving a grin in return.
“You’re right.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead. “It doesn’t matter. I have my own family now.” Smiling a little she set the baby back down on her blanket and went back to work, enjoying the beautiful weather and her beautiful daughter.
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