Pre Baby Blues

Posted on Fri Jul 12th, 2019 @ 6:35pm by

1,224 words; about a 6 minute read

Lieutenant Amélie D'Aramitz

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Amélie stood in the middle of her office, looking around, trying to determine what else it was that she needed. She had been trying to make everything feel as comfortable and as homey as possible so that everyone would feel relaxed... but something still felt missing. It was comfortable, there was no doubt about that. It was a nice place to sit, it wasn't overly personal, in fact the only true items of a personal nature were two photos she had on her desk, both of her and Alain, one taken the day she graduated from the Academy and the other the day they got married.

She had barely sank down into one of the single seats when the chime of her door sounded, making her look up in surprise. She definitely hadn't been expecting anyone, her appointment schedule had remained wide open, so having a visitor was definitely a surprise. "Enter," she called as she stood up, tugging down the front of her jacket and smoothing her uniform over her hips as she turned toward the door expectantly.

Seeing the counselor was never something Matthew thought he would be willingly doing. He had never held any desire to admit weakness or impairment, hell, it was hard enough to get him to sickbay when he needed it, yet here he was, not only stepping into the counselor's office, but doing it willingly.

"Lieutenant D'Aramitz?" he asked as he looked at the young woman. "I'm Ensign Matthew Leeson," he glanced around the room quickly before his narrowed gaze fell back on Amélie. "I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, if you're busy I can come back later."

"No, I'm not busy, why don't you take a seat?" Amélie offered. "I was about to take a break from my new career as a very bad interior decorator, I could really do with a cup of tea, can I get you something?"

Matthew smiled vaguely at her attempt at a joke. "Coffee please, black with two. I think I need the caffeine, I haven't had much sleep."

Replicating the two drinks, Amélie carried them across to the seats, handing one to him as he sat in the other single seat next to her, leaving her free to take the seat she had been in earlier. "Is there something bothering you that is causing your sleeplessness?" she asked gently.

Sipping at the coffee and grimacing at the taste, Matthew sighed audibly at her question, his shoulders slumping as he looked down at his hands, the wedding ring on his left hand a stark reminder of everything that was wrong.

"I need to get off the ship," he said quietly before looking across at her. "I need to get back to earth, now."

"Okay, has something happened?" Amélie watched him carefully. Clearly he was incredibly tense and anxious. The way he sat, the way he moved, even the way he spoke, it was like he was being wound tighter and tighter.

Matthew shook his head. "It's my wife, Alicia. She's pregnant, God I hope she's still pregnant," he sighed, again, setting the mug on the small side table next to him before wringing his hands anxiously. "She missed the transport to get to the ship, she was being held for observation in a medical facility on Earth, she was supposed to be transferred to the ship before we departed but there was a complete screw up with the paperwork and she didn't get transferred, so now she's on Earth ready to give birth any day, and I'm stuck in this hell."

"Sometimes these things can't be avoided," Amélie said gently. "I can contact Starfleet for you if you want and see about getting her onto another ship to rendezvous with us? Is her pregnancy particularly high risk, is that why she was under observation?"

He looked across at her, pain clearly etched in the worry lines of his face. "This is her fourth pregnancy, she lost the first three babies, all before twenty weeks. She's been on bed rest since twenty four weeks because she had a threatened premature labor but they managed to stop it. She's all I can think about, I promised her I'd be there for the birth. I keep waking up and checking to see if I've missed a message from her or if she's tried to contact me. I'm so tired today that I'm pretty sure I'm about to get removed from duty. I put the wrong voltage chip in a port today and shorted out an entire console that now has to be rebuilt." He shook his head, picking up his coffee and wincing his way through another shudder inducing mouthful.

Amélie nodded slowly. "I'm going to recommend you take a few days off work," she said gently. "I'll speak to your department head and clear it on medical grounds. I'll also speak to Starfleet Medical and see what we can do. Given the situation I think this is important. I just need you to be aware I can't make any promises, but I'll try. I'll see what I can do, okay?"

Matthew's expression became one of surprise. "You don't think I'm being ridiculous?" he asked, somewhat incredulously. "I tried to speak to someone else, they told me it was just a birth, I could be there for the next one."

With a gentle smile and a shake of her head, Amélie reached across the gap between them, resting her hand on his forearm. "There is no such thing as just a birth," she said gently. "I commend you on being so involved in what your wife is going through. I can only hope that when my time comes, my husband is even half as involved as you seem to be. In the interim, I'm going to recommend that you go down to sickbay and have a quick checkup, speak to the doctor. My report will be in the computer in a few minutes and they can contact me if they need any clarification. I would recommend getting something to help you get some sleep. If your wife can't contact you directly they'll go to the ship and we'll get you immediately, I promise."

"I don't think I could sleep if I tried," Matthew replied with a shake of his head. "What if something happens and I miss it?"

Amélie shook her head and smiled again. "You won't miss anything, I promise you that much. Get your sleep while you can. You're going to have a baby soon and you will likely never sleep again," she said with a gentle smile.

Setting his mug down, Matthew stood up. "Thank you Lieutenant," he said with a vague smile. "I appreciate your time, and I will go see medical like you said. I can't guarantee I'll take anything, but I'll go and see them. Thank you."

"Good luck Matthew," Amélie said with a smile. "I'll let you know what I can find out for you, but in the interim, go rest while you can."

With a nod, Matthew turned and walked out of the small office, the slightest sense of relief washing over him as he did. Perhaps talking to the counselor wasn't entirely so bad after all.

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