Reunion

Posted on Thu Mar 2nd, 2023 @ 4:51am by Lieutenant JG Jenna Jade & Ensign Rene Rouen

Mission: The Interim
Location: Rouen Family Quarters

Rene was placing a few personal items about the common areas of the new family quarters he had been assigned. He finished putting the rapier on the wall mount and stepped back to look at it. The sword had been in the family for centuries, forged by a master swordsmith in the early 1600s during the creation of the famed King's Musketeers of France under King Henry IV. He took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh as he thought of the generations of Rouen men who had owned this heirloom. It was his now. He only hoped he could live up to the legacy that being custodian of the Rouen Rapier meant.

Jenna had been all but bouncing her entire shift, first the bridge tour, then when she’d gotten back to engineering for that part of her day. The entire time she’d managed to barely keep herself under control until her relief had shown up, predictably about ten minutes late, where she turned it over to him and basically bolted to Rene’s quarters, which had remained closed to her until she queried the computer which had redirected her here. These doors opened and she stepped inside carefully, visibly restraining herself with some sort of recognition of… Something changing. “My, what big quarters you have now, Rene? Ah wasn’t aware that you rated something this big already?”

Rene turned as the door to the family suite opened. He gave Jenna a tired smile and crossed the room to give her a warm embrace. "Special circumstances...came up requiring a need for larger accommodations. Um...."

Two teenagers came bursting into the common area, both yelling in rapid fire French at one another and rushing towards Rene. They came up short when they realized Jenna was there.

"Que diable?" Jenna whispered out loud as her eyes went open wide as the two youngsters came to a stop. Her gaze went to Rene, then to the girl, then to the boy, then back to Rene and back again to the pair. "Pardon, Je suis Jenna... Et tu...?"

The auburn haired girl looked at Jenna in surprise. She quickly recovered and stepped forward. "Mon nom est Amelie. Crest mon frere Louis."

Louis stood there dumbstruck. He blinked several times as he stared at Jenna.

Jenna turned to her upbringing as a Southron lady and stepped forward, embracing Amelie by the elbows and placing a gentle kiss off of each cheek in the proper fashion, "It's a pleasure to meet you Amelie. May Ah assume that you and Louis are related to Rene somehow?"

Amelie nodded with a friendly smile to Jenna. She spoke again in only slightly accented Federation Standard as she gestured to Rene. "Rene is our brother. I gather you are Jenna." She glanced at Rene before returning his gaze to Jenna. "Rene spoke of you frequently and quite fondly during our trip here."

Louis finally stepped forward and grasped Jenna's hand. He gave a slight bow and kissed her knuckle. "Rene said you were beautiful, but his words do not do you justice Mademoiselle Jenna."

“Merci.” Jenna blushed a rosy red on her cheeks, “Why thank you, Louis,” She repeated but in Standard, “Ah’ve heard a fair bit about yourselves, all malicious of course.” She winked at the twins before giving a slightly mischievous smile to Rene, “For certain, Louis, he didn’t tell me you were such a gentleman and only touched upon your own beauty, Amelie. Ah do like to think that once you get to know me that we will all be the best of friends. However, might Ah be a bit rude and steal your brother for a few moments? Ah haven’t seen him in a while and sorely need to get caught up with him.” She flashed a very warm smile.

Amelie grabbed Louis by the arm and pulled him away. "Of course. Come Louis let's leave Rene and his amor some privacy."

Louis let go of Jenna's hand, albeit reluctantly. "Au revoir Mademoiselle Jenna."

Rene watched as his siblings disappeared to their respective rooms. He took Jenna by the hand and led her to the couch. He hugged her again once they were seated. "How have you been the last few weeks?

Jenna didn’t bother letting go, now more able to relax, no, melt
into his arms, “My God, Rene, it’s been terrible! Ah know Ah was missin’ you badly enough, but after you had to go off in such a hurry, we had to get ready to take down a bunch of pirates. Refittin’ the ship as a cargo hauler, playing merchantman for a few weeks and then got into a fight where we were boarded by a group of them. They got to Engineerin’s doors, but we’d locked them out and it held until help arrived, but they were killin’ everyone they could get their hands on.” Jenna shuddered at the memory, “Ah hope that never happens again.”

Rene gave Jenna a gentle squeeze as they hugged on the couch. It dawned on him that she wasn't aware of the reason for his sudden departure. He pulled back just enough to look her in the eye. "There’s something I need to tell you about why Louis and Amelie are here. Our mother, father, grandfather, older brother and older sister were killed in a shuttle accident returning to Earth after a trip to Tycho City on the moon. Only Louis and Amelie made it off using the emergency transporter. There is no other family able to take them in at this time so...I was awarded guardianship."

Her eyes went wide as her jaw slackened, "Oh my... Ah am so sorry, love, Ah.." Tears began to well up, "Ah.. Ah don't know what Ah can say to help with the pain of that." Her mind flicked back to the brief message he'd left her before he'd vanished, something had happened at home and he was needed there... Quickly. "Of course here is the best place for them, with you... With us. Amelie looks to be about Marta's age, possibly a bit younger, so Ah do know what havin' a little sister's like, but she was the last of the Jades to be born and Andrew is only a year younger than me. You can count on me to help in whatever way Ah can help, Rene, my word on that."

Rene nodded, a weak smile on his face. He wasn't sure before if, much less, he was going to be up to raising two teenagers and serving in Starfleet. His talk with Calypso and Mark earlier, along with now knowing that Jenna supported him, made it all seem less overwhelming. He kissed for a few seconds before breaking the kiss. "Thank you for being by my side on this."

“How could Ah do anythin’ else?” Jenna looked him in the eyes with sincere words, “Sure, we’re both a bit young for all this, but together we are more than the sum of our parts. Ah couldn’t imagine not bein’ at your side through all this, because they are just like family to me right now, and will be once you decide to make an honest woman of me, should you eventually decide to do so.” The tone of her voice made her opinion on that matter plain as day and her expectation that the asking of her would come as a surprise, “Ah just wish Ah could’ve met your parents… Ah truly was lookin’ forward to that,”

Rene gave Jenna a stronger smile. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You make me believe that everything is going to be alright. I am not sure how, but having you by my side in this...makes anything seem possible."

She reached up to cup his cheek, "That's because it is. Everythin's gonna be all right, Rene, Ah promise you that. Ah'm not gonna get scared off just because you've got more responsibilities to family. Because they will be my family as well."

Rene felt at ease with Jenna. Her confidence bolstered his own and he was madly in love with her. He kissed her again, longer and more deeply. He was, in fact still kissing her when Amelie stepped back into the common room.

Amelie rolled her eyes at the couple on the couch. "God Rene! Take Jenna to your bedroom if you guys are going to get all romantic and stuff."

Jenna broke the kiss while being unable to stifle the laughter. She remembered how it was ever so long ago(seven years) that she was Amelie’s age and had no interest in boys. Of course, she’d been climbing the rankings in the tennis world at that time and was also preparing for her debutante ball, then she wondered about the two young Rouen’s upbringing. There was definitely a lot to talk about, “Sorry, Amelie, it’s just been… There’s a lot of catch in’ up to do.” She thought for a moment, then pushed herself to her feet, not relinquishing Rene’s hand, “Let’s go, Rene, Ah’ve got a few more questions for you.”

Rene led the way to his bedroom. There were a few boxes sitting on the bed, but he had already put away clothes and uniforms. "I didn’t even need half the closet or drawer space for my things." He stepped over to a door that slid open. "I even have my own fresher." He looked about wondering what he would do with all this space.

With a giggle, Jenna poked her head around and saw the actual bathtub in the bathroom to go along with the shower and other accoutrements. She'd heard about these sets of quarters, but it had been beneath her pay grade to be the one to prep any for use, that was something for the enlisted engineers and operations personnel to handle. Definitely is luxurious, meant for families and all, of course, typically married couples.

Rene looked at Jenna as a thought popped into his mind. "Would you...like to take some of this space. There will be times when I will be pulling night watches and I would feel better knowing someone was here to keep an eye on Amelie and Louis."

"Ah would be honored to put some of my things over here, Rene!" Jenna smiled and reached out to pull him into a hug, "Of course, that's if it wouldn't be any inconvenience to you and if it wouldn't only be limited to those times that you are not here." Her eyes glittered with a little mischief, "Otherwise Ah'd have to put some sort of lock on a couple of these drawers so you couldn't go pokin' around my underthings or anythin'!"

Rene chuckled before giving Jenna a kiss on her cheek. "Consider it an open invitation. As a matter of fact, I was hoping you wouldn't mind staying tonight. If you want." Hi expression changed as he asked her to stay. Not just wanting her to stay, but needing her to stay.

"Ah believe, mon cheri, that if you wanted to keep me away tonight, that you'd have more than a small fight on your hands." Jenna leaned into him for yet another hug, "Ah've been waitin' for you to get back for some time already without much word from you and Ah've already let Petty Officer Sinclair know that Ah'm likely to be a bit late gettin' to work in the mornin'. But, for one, Ah need a shower and to get a few things and Ah'll be back as soon as Ah can, all right?"

Rene could only nod. He was pretty much the same. It had been a long day. He wanted a shower and to get into pajamas. "Take care of what you need to. We'll all be here when you get back."

"Ah'll be back before you know it." Jenna promised with a smile, edging towards the door, already making a mental list of what she needed. "Just, don't go too far."

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