Privet, Mat'. Hallo, Vater.

Posted on Tue Sep 23rd, 2025 @ 2:46pm by Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Kally's Quarters
Timeline: Evening After A Tour Into Medical

Kally lay on her bed after her shift, staring at the ceiling. True to his word, Jadizon had given Kally some space and let her have some time to herself to think. The issue wasn't whether or not she loved Jadizon in her mind. Of course she did. She wouldn't show him so much affection if she didn't care deeply. The issue was, she still wanted to live her life as she had been, free to share her love with someone as he wanted, and that conflicted with his wants for her.

It wasn't anything new. People who tried having relationships often found something that made them incompatible, and they were forced to move on. Still, she felt bad she'd break his heart in the process. On the other hand, she had to learn to listen to her own feelings. She just couldn't get her mind to focus.

After some time, she sat up and sighed. She grabbed her portable terminal from her desk in her living room and brought it to her bed. She opened a channel to Gault, knowing subspace would still take a moment to connect. She pulled her blankets over her and sat back against her pillows.

A few moments later, a blonde woman appeared on the screen. "Kalliope!" Natalia Kellerman shouted excitedly.

"Privet, Mama," Kally said, smiling.

"Friedrich!" Natalia shouted. "Kalliopa zovot! Prikhodi skoreye!" She looked back at the screen, grinning, thrilled to see her daughter. "Kak dela? Vam nravitsya vash novyy korabl'? Kak pozhivayet Katarina?" she said.

"I'm well, Katie's well. The ship is...." she sighed and smiled. "Mama, I'm so happy here," she said, though her smile faltered a bit.

"Happy, but?" her mother said, knowing the look on her daughter's face.

"But...it's about a man in my life," Kally said.

"Ein mann?" Friedrich Kellerman said, stepping into view. "You have an issue with some boy?"

"Konechno, a kogda net?" Natalia sighed, shaking her head.

Kally smiled at her father. "Hallo, Papa," she said, warmly. Katie had always been a Daddy's Girl, but Kally loved him just as much, and at that moment wished he was there to wrap her up in one of his usual crushing bear hugs.

"The issue," she said, addressing her mother, "is that...well...there's a bit of a triangle."

"Hier kommt es," Friedrich said under his breath. "And who is involved in this triangle?" he said.

Kally blushed and didn't meet his eyes. "A wonderful man named Jadizon Enor and...Katie."

She expected her parents to react, and when they didn't, she looked up in surprise to see them glancing at each other. "Mama? Papa?"

"You're both in love with him?" Friedrich said.

"Or he's in love with both of them," Natalia surmised, then looked back at Kally. "Is that it?"

Kally nodded. "He is. He wishes to formalize the relationship, but he can't choose. And...I don't know how I feel about it," she said.

"About 'it' or about 'him'?" her father said.

"Him," Kally said, nodding in confirmation. "I care for him, I daresay...I love him," she sighed. "But I don't know if I'm in love with him." She hated how grammar school that sounded.

"Is he a good man? Does he treat you with respect? Make you feel loved and appreciated?" Friedrich said.

"Ja, Papa," Kally said, nodding. "All of the above. He's a wonderful man. He is not the issue, I am. I don't feel...the way I should feel if I'm with someone I would marry. I don't know how to explain it."

Natalia and Friedrich exchanged another look and Kally wasn't sure how to interpret it. Her Father looked like he knew more about the situation than he was letting on, and her mother looked...amused?

"Fridrikh, day nam minutku nayedine?" Natalia said, sweetly, kissing his cheek.

Friedrich nodded and blew a kiss to his daughter. "Triff weise entscheidungen, Häschen. Ich liebe dich. Sag Katarina, dass ich sie auch liebe."

"Ich werde. Ich liebe dich auch, Papa," Kally said, blowing him a kiss back. She watched as her father left the room, leaving her and her mother alone.

"Now, Kalliope," her mother said, her tone more serious. "You have a difficult decision to make. If this man loves you, you cannot leave him wondering about your feelings."

"I know, Mama," Kally sighed. "And I don't want to. I just...I care for him, but every time I think about things, I wish to talk it over with someone else. She is..." Kally smiled, thinking of her last night with Cally. "She is important to me as well. Very important, and I don't wish to lose her either."

"Her? So there are two triangles? Does this woman make you feel as he does?" Natalia said, noting her daughter's reaction.

"In a way, yes. I love them both," Kally said. "Ideally?..." she blushed. "I would have them both in my life."

"Stranger things have happened," her mother said, cryptically. "But, I will tell you something my mother once told me. "Neproizvol'naya ulybka skazhet bol'she, chem namerenno proiznesennoye slovo."

Kally's brows knit together as she mulled the words. "An involuntary smile says more than a voluntary word?"

"Accept that you love them both," Natalia said. "And then ask which one makes your soul happiest. Which one makes you smile for no reason. Really think about who you are with each of them, and let that guide you. And remember, if you're not willing to be with one of them, because you don't want to lose the other, well...then you know where your priorities lie."

Kally nodded, thinking. "I need to talk to Cally," she said, making a decision.

Her mother nodded and smiled. "You'll make the right decision. I have faith in you," she said.

Kally smiled. "Spasibo, Mama. Ya lyublyu tebya."

"Ya tozhe tebya lyublyu," Natalia said, blowing her daughter a kiss. "Let me know what you decide? And tell Katie we love her and to call us when she can."

Kally nodded. "Da, Mama." She blew her mother a kiss and closed the channel. She sat, thinking, for some time before getting out of her bed and leaving her quarters.