Surprise, Part 1

Posted on Sat 29th Apr, 2023 @ 6:45am by Mary Elizabeth Gregory & Maiek s'Ethien

1,210 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Neither Yours Nor Mine
Location: Aboard Romulan starship, headed to Earth
Timeline: MD-4, 1330 hours

A Romulan female voice sounded an alert in the bedroom and Maiek turned his attention away from his sketchbook to the panel before him.

"Mary Elizabeth, love....we're about a half hour away from our destination. You should start getting dressed now. "

"Half an hour?!" Mary Elizabeth glanced up from the PADD of Romulan grammar she was studying in bed and tossed it aside. "Just warning you now, if the ambassador asks me anything in the subjunctive, I might cause an interstellar incident." On that happy note, she dashed into the sonic shower.

Later in the transporter room, Maiek had been very careful to not walk by any of the windows that would tell his beloved that they orbited her home planet of Earth and not the colony world of New Romulus. They were going to New Romulus of course, but that was on the return trip. He looked resplendent, but casual, in his creamy white shirt, and the vest of Romulan style with the patterns of Earth's Greek empires on it. The blue, brown and white were a lovely combination against his skin. A wide golden belt held the symbol of the New Romulan Empire, and the spirals of his clan.

"Are you ready to go, love?"

"I'm not drunk enough to go through with it yet," Mary Elizabeth said as she linked her arm with Maiek's. She smoothed down the folds of the dress he'd designed for her. The base garment was a white, empire-waisted, form-fitting, knee-length dress that somehow looked blue in shadows. It was worn off the shoulder and had an emerald-green overdress that rippled as she moved. The overdress was split down the middle and extended from her knees in front, to her ankles in the back. To accessorize it, she wore a silver pair of what she called ballet-slipper vambraces, which wrapped around her forearms like the ribbons of ballet slippers did, ending at her wrists.

Mary Elizabeth looked Maiek over and grinned. "You look magnificent, dearest. I am sure you will impress. Let's go!"

His smile was incandescent as he saw her in something that he had made for her. He raised her hand to his lips and breathed a kiss to it before he straightened, and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. He murmured to the Romulan transporter officer, and the transporter room fell away to be replaced by an ornate street, covered by cobbles in the ancient style...and a sign that looked remarkably like the one she employed at the Noose. His eyes never left the face of his beloved, however as his heart was racing. Please like my surprise...

Mary Elizabeth blinked as they materialized. They stood on Tonbridge Road in Maidstone--a street she recognized, as she had grown up on it. There was Steckley's Bakery across the way, the Walnut Tree Pub down the street, and, yes, the original Hangman's Noose pub, right in front of them. "Wha--How--? We're in Maidstone!" she blurted. Mary Elizabeth looked up at Maiek and saw him grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, my God--This is real? We're really on Earth, in Kent?" A grin overtook her features, too, as she flung her arms around her betrothed.

"We shall meet the Ambassador on the return trip." he said into her hair as he kissed the crown of her head softly.

"You are the dearest man!" Mary Elizabeth said into Maiek's ear. Then she grasped his hand and all but pulled him toward her parents' pub. She pushed open the heavy, wooden door, and they stepped inside.

The Gregory family's ancestral pub looked quite more modern in some ways than Mary Elizabeth's version of it. A couple of neon beer brand logos dotted the walls, as did a couple of wide-screen monitors. Where all of Mary Elizabeth's dishware consisted of crockery or wooden bowls and trenchers, the original Noose had normal china plates and bowls. The floor was covered in carpet tile clearly designed to absorb sound, and the walls were predominantly made of stones, bricks, and mortar. The ceiling featured stout, wooden beams, but the lighting was thoroughly modern.

A woman at the hostess station who Mary Elizabeth didn't know greeted them. "Welcome to the Hangman's Noose! May I find you a table?"

"I'm Mildred and Lucas's older daughter," Mary Elizabeth said and craned her neck to get a good look at the taproom. "Are they in the kitchen? Usually, Dad's tending bar by now."

"Oh! You must be Mary Elizabeth. I'm Liv. You must be the reason they're not in the kitchen," Liv said. She picked up an old-fashioned telephone and keyed in a number. "Mrs. Gregory? They're here."

Mary Elizabeth turned to Maiek. "They knew we were coming?"

"They knew a special guest was coming. I may have neglected to mention it was you" he commented, her joy in her surroundings a balm to his very soul. Elements, he loved her.

"They'll be baffled as to why I'm dressed like this," Mary Elizabeth said, grinning. She kissed Maiek. "Thank you!"

The sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs alerted her that her family was coming, and then her sister, Eleanor, squealed, "Mary Elizabeth!" and sped down the stairs to fling arms around her.

Maiek thought that they wouldn't care one lick about how she was dressed, just that she was there. Home, after a long long time away. He knew how he would feel if he were able to return to Romulus and the embrace of his mother. He remembered Aunt Verelan telling him that Emmi would have been proud of his choice of bride. He'd been overcome by that...but now he watched his intended joyously reunite with her family...It was beautiful.

His eyes watched as the activity from upstairs rapidly increased at the squeal of his intended's name.

Two young men followed the young woman, and an older pair came down the stairs last. The man was tall and lean, with dark, curling hair that closely resembled Mary Elizabeth's. The woman was shorter and plumper, also with dark hair, but with eyes full of liveliness and mischief. Her gaze fell on Maiek, and she smiled.

"Eleanor, may I present Maiek s'Ethien, my fiance. Maiek, this is my sister, Eleanor Gregory," Mary Elizabeth said. Then she introduced her younger brothers, Jeremiah and Gabriel, and last of all, her parents, Lucas and Mildred.

"Mary Elizabeth has told us so much about you!" Mildred said to Maiek, beaming. She turned to Mary Elizabeth. "Welcome home, dear! And welcome to our family, Maiek. Shall we all have some tea, or are we to leave right away?"

"There is no hurry, Ma'am." he answered formally, bowing slightly at the waist to his love's matriarch. She couldn't know what an important place tea held in the social construct of the Romulus that was, so offering it now was...perfect. "Tea would be lovely."

"Excellent," Lucas Gregory said. "I'll let Cook know." He pressed his wrist comlink. "Mrs. Kendrick? Could you bring the tea to the back room? We'll want two large pots, English Breakfast and Earl Grey, along with the third, and--" He glanced at Maiek. "Are there any Earth foods you can't eat?"

(To be continued.)

 

RSS Feed