(JP) Samantha Richards & Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper – Hit me (with a) Baby One More Time
Samantha Richards
((Earlier in 2402 – Robin Hopper’s Apartment, Beijing District – Amity Outpost))
((OOC: This takes place before Sam's transfer to the Artemis))
For longer than she anticipated, Sam stood outside the door of Robin (and Nathan's?) apartment. Things had been left particularly awkward between the two of them after they both dropped a few bombshells on their conversation at Wet Goods.
With her transfer imminent, she didn’t want things to be left as they were. With a final deep breath, Sam finally activated the chime.
As the tone of the door chime rang out inside the apartment, Robin looked up from her book – G.K. Chesterton’s, “The Man Who Was Thursday”. She’d just reached the intriguing moment where seemingly mild-mannered poet, Gabriel Syme, had been given the codename ‘Thursday’ after being unexpectedly recruited into a secret anarchist council and, quite frankly, had completely lost any sense of what time it was or whether she should be expecting company.
Hopper: Just a minute!
Looking down at her outfit (little more than a hastily-thrown-on silk robe) she grimaced but quickly leapt from her chair and ran to the entry to check who was on her doorstep.
Hopper: ::Looking at the little video feed:: Oh! Sam! ::Opening the door:: Well, hey! What are you doing stopping by?
Robin gestured for Sam to enter, and followed the redhead towards the living room.
She walked inside with a smile, taking in the different scents of Robin’s plant collection.
S. Richards: Hey Robin, I was about to head to the Mez and do a little shopping. You interested?
Robin’s gaze did shift, momentarily, to the book left sitting tantalizingly on her coffee table, but she quickly accepted that as urgent as it felt for her to know what happened next, the book would still be waiting there for her when she got back – but Sam would be leaving Amity soon, and it was far more pressing to spend time with her future sister-in-law than to commit time to Chesterton.
Hopper: ::Eyes back on Sam:: You bet – though I’ll have to change. I don’t care what the press says, this station hasn’t gone full Betazoid yet… ::Moving towards her bedroom:: Anything in particular you’re scoping for, or is this purely an excuse to grab an ice cream while we try on Talaxian costume jewellery – because I’ll just say now, I am in either way.
Giving Robin a warm smile, Sam put her hand on her belly.
S. Richards: I was thinkin’ a little baby shopping, and I need to find some clothes that fit that I didn’t steal from Talos.
Robin paused in the middle of digging through her own wardrobe.
Hopper: Ohhh!.. ::Trying to find the word:: Cute. Well, that sounds enlightening. I’ve never done, uhh, baby shopping before. What kinds of things do they need?
She resumed her search for something wearable and settled on a swishy little bell-sleeved mustard A-line dress. She began changing, stepping just to the side so as not to subject Sam to her own unrequested Betazoid formal experience.
Hopper: Toys? A crib? Blankets – wait, is it safe for babies to have blankets? Oh, little boots. They gotta need those, right? ::Clearly out of her element:: Or maybe they don’t. I guess they won’t be walking for a while…
Robin’s tone was a bit hard to read, but thankfully she seemed willing enough to give baby shopping a try. That was all Sam could really ask for, the effort meant more than anything.
S. Richards: Looks like this is a new experience for both of us. I’ve never been baby shopping either. I do know they are going to need clothes. ::Chuckling:: Betazoid or not, my babies are going to be clothed.
Hopper: Well, then we might as well ensure they look stylish.
Sam watched as Robin made her way back to the living room, in a cute yellow dress. She looked down at her own outfit and made a face. A pair of baggy sweatpants and one of Talos’ shirts had become her accustomed look, but now that everyone knew she was pregnant, there was no need to hide the bump any longer.
S. Richards: I’m definitely going to need your expertise in finding some things a bit more flattering than— ::gesturing to herself:: — whatever this is.
Hopper: ::Chuckling, slightly uncomfortably:: Hah… I don’t know if I’d call myself an ‘expert’, especially when it comes to fashion for um, babies, but how different can it be? Shall we?
S. Richards: I’m ready if you are!
((Grand Mezzanine – Amity Outpost))
Their trip to the Mezzanine was full of small talk, thankfully keeping things light hearted for the time being. Robin had plenty of questions about Sam’s pending transfer to the Artemis and the work she’d be doing aboard the Luna Class vessel, as well as a myriad of wedding-related ideas she felt warranted a third-party opinion.
After arriving, they swung by the ice cream parlor (the name of which Robin found quite distasteful) and acquired two cones of, admittedly, considerably more tasteful gelato. Walking along the ring of stores that comprised the station’s Grand Mezzanine, they scanned for the storefront they were searching for.
S. Richards: Someone told me about a baby shop here. I think they said it’s called “Tater Tots” or something like that… I probably should have written it down.
Hopper: ::Licking her raspberry sorbet:: Now that’s a cute name… Much better than “Cream of the Ice”... Who came up with that? ::Chuckling to herself:: Oh, speaking of names – have you, um, thought of…?
She indicated Sam’s belly with a vague wave of her hand.
S. Richards: There've been a couple ideas thrown around, but nothing set in stone. ::Chuckling:: I agree though, “Cream of the Ice” is a terrible name.
Nodding, Robin offered a half-hearted smile.
Hopper: Not sure if it’s better or worse having to come up with the names yourself. ::Eyes shifting to the large nebula-filled windows:: I was named after my uncle. I never met him. Apparently, my daughter will be named after her aunt – who she also won’t meet. ::Shrug:: Does Talos have any dead relatives?
Her mouth turned down into an awkward grimace.
Hopper: Sorry, that was probably insensitive.
S. Richards: His mom. Luckily for me if he does want to use her name, it’s not awful.
Sam gave her a smile. Picking names had already proven to be difficult, but they would figure it out eventually– hopefully.
As they rounded a large planter filled with bushlike tropicals and a short vine-covered tree, the sought-for store appeared before them. “Tater Tots” was, indeed, spelled out in cutesy titled lettering – the R in Tater written backwards in stereotypically juvenile fashion.
Hopper: Well, there it is.
S. Richards: ::Glancing to Robin:: I have no idea what I’m doing. Thanks for doing this with me. It’s a little intimidating.
She gestured for Robin to take the lead as they entered the store. Even taking the lead, Robin couldn’t help but think about the fact that, she too, had no idea what she was doing. Looking around the store, she saw all sorts of clothing, toys, and household items that no doubt served some sort of practical purpose that must have been obvious to someone.
Sam’s eyes grew wide as she spotted a rack filled with the smallest looking pajamas ever and pointed to it.
S. Richards: Let’s start there.
Hopper: Great. Pajamas I understand. ::Putting down the unusual shaped vessel she’d been inspecting:: This I do not.
Sam’s sights were instantly drawn to a section that had little footie-pajamas covered in stars and planets.
S. Richards: Oh look! They have these in pink and blue. ::Beat:: Is that too generic?
Hopper: Pink and blue? Hmm. I don’t know. ::Trying to recall:: I honestly don’t even remember wearing clothes as a baby. I think I might have been a perpetually nude child… ::Shaking her head:: Growing up on a farm, you know? It’s a wonder they didn’t dress me in a potato sack.
S. Richards: My mom would make Blake and I wear “coordinating” not “matching”. She thought twins that matched were too common. ::lowering her voice:: Personally, I think matching is cute.
With a shrug she grabbed the pajamas– in one of each color.
Hopper: ::Smiling:: Well, I think you should dress your babies however you want to dress them – matching or coordinating – so long as you don’t dress them in potato sacks.
Sam held up one of the small outfits.
S. Richards: Why are small things so cute? There has to be a science behind that.
Hopper: ::Nodding eagerly:: Oh, there is! I can’t recall the name of it, but there’s a whole cross-species phenomenon that I learned about at a conference last year – neotenous features activate reward centers in the brain to elicit a caregiving response… ::Stopping herself, blushing:: Aaand there I go… More comfortable talking science than babies. Sorry.
It was interesting subject matter, Robin thought, even if it wasn’t something she’d had much interest in exploring ‘in situ’.
S. Richards: Don’t worry. Science makes more sense to me than babies. Science is facts. Babies… they are confusing and dangerously cute.
Hopper: ::Shrugging:: For what it’s worth, even I think they’re cute. Babies, that is. When they’re not being gross or screaming. Little squishy things with big eyes… My favourite times with my sister were when she was still too young to talk back to me.
S. Richards: I’m sure Nathan feels the same way about me.
As they continued to peruse the store, Robin thought of her sister – five years her junior. How mad she’d been when she learned her parents were having another child. As if she wasn’t already the perfect kid. How dare they! Despite her best efforts to hate Kerilyn, she had had to admit when they brought the little bundle home… the stupid slug was kind of adorable.
She found herself stopped at a hanging display – a mobile, shaped loosely like a spiral galaxy – and touched it gently, spinning the little dots around the central column.
Hopper: I do wonder… If I’ll ever– ::Sighing:: I’m not a big believer in that archaic “biological clock” stuff. I’ve never wanted kids. Now I know that at least some version of me managed it… I can’t stop thinking about that possibility. What kind of mother I’d be. ::Matter-of-factly:: How did you know you wanted to– You know? Keep them.
S. Richards: Once some of the initial shock wore off and I had a second to breathe— I instantly felt a connection. ::Shrugging.:: It’s hard to explain, but I just knew I wanted them. I needed them.
Robin nodded, but she couldn’t really understand. Not fully.
Hopper: I guess that makes sense… Plus, they’re half-Betazoid. Maybe there really is some ‘extra-sensory connection’ going on there.
The lady behind the counter had quietly walked up to hand Sam a basket, since her arms were already getting full. She quietly thanked her and turned back to Robin.
S. Richards: I’ll be honest, seeing Talos getting excited the further along I get, the more I feel like it was the right decision… For both of us.
After their particularly awkward conversation about how Robin and Talos had some kind of one night fling, Sam was at first hesitant to talk about him. But whether Robin liked it or not, Sam and Talos were committed and about to journey into parenthood together. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Hopper: I know I was a bit shocked by that, before. ::Chuckling:: I shouldn’t have been, I guess. But I was. I think it’s a good thing. He seems like a good man.
The fact that he hadn’t turned and run as far away as possible when he’d heard Sam’s news was evidence of that, as far as Robin was concerned. That was a luxury that males of the Human and Betazoid species had, she supposed. The ability to simply deny their role and responsibility in such things. Perhaps that was part of why she had always kept men at something of a distance, until Nathan had come along.
The two wandered through more of the shop, picking out cute little clothes, accessories and some essentials.
Sam thought about the first time she did some shopping with Robin and a couple of their friends. Things had changed so much since then. They had both grown as people and faced challenges they never expected. In the end of it all, she was happy to still look at Robin with the same love and respect as always. A fixture in her life that meant more than she could explain.
S. Richards: Would you do something for me? ::Smiling awkwardly:: Will you pick out an outfit for each of them? Something I can say their Aunt Robin picked out for them. ::Pausing:: Do you even want to be called Aunt Robin? Or are you more of an ‘Auntie’ kind of gal?
Robin grimaced for a moment, but quickly softened. That wasn’t such a hard ask. They were just tiny clothes. Robin knew how to pick outfits.
Hopper: Yeah. ::Nodding:: Yeah! Okay… And you know, I kind of like the sound of “Auntie”. It’s less – I dunno, formal. Does that make sense?
Her hand waved dismissively towards Robin.
S. Richards: Whatever clothes– and name– you pick will be perfect!
Hopper: Okay then. Auntie Robin it is. ::Chuckling:: Honestly, that’s the least of my worries. I still have to tell your mother I’m stealing her eldest son away from her – and that I’m not planning on taking the “Richards” family name…
Sam grimaced a bit. She didn’t want to delve into a conversation about her mom. The poor woman was going through enough after discovering she was going to be a grandma. Once she heard about Nathan and Robin… All bets were off on if they’d need to find her a nice asylum to live out her days.
S. Richards: After that we can go check out the wedding shop. ::putting her hand on her stomach:: I think we’ve done our fair share of baby-supply gathering today.
Sam smirked, she wasn’t going to be around much for wedding planning since she was off to the Artemis in short time. It was her chance to feel maybe even a small bit included.
Robin turned to her soon-to-be Sister in Law with a nervous smile. She was trying to feel positive about the wedding, and excited. It was going to be so soon now, it felt like. Going shopping for it somehow felt… fun. Fun was what she needed it to feel like.
Hopper: Yes! Okay, that– That actually sounds nice. Thank you.
S. Richards: Thank you. This all means a lot to me.
As they approached the front counter to finalize Sam’s purchases, Robin squeezed the other woman’s hand appreciatively.
Hopper: We can do this.
Sam squoze Robin’s hand back in response
S. Richards: Heck yeah we can.
END
Samantha Richards
Civilian Scientist
USS Artemis-A
A240103SR3
&
Lt. Commander Robin Hopper
Chief Science Officer & Second Officer
Amity Outpost
V239806K11