Family time

Posted on Wed Sep 30th, 2026 @ 8:23am by Civilian Harper o’Leary [FAMILY NPC] & Commander Kyle Reece

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Timeline: Between Missions
2676 words - 5.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Harper looked around the new cabin she and the children were moving into. It was an expanded Senior Staff Cabin. Kyle and Harper had agreed that, each child would have their own rooms. No one would be expected to share or give up their personal space. It had taken Ops some maneuvering but they had managed to get them a 2 level cabin due to the number of children. The children's bedrooms were now on the second level. She took a breath and began the process of beaming in their belongings. All the children were at school or daycare so she was doing this herself.

Kyle was busy with ship business, but as soon as he had a few free moments, he called Harper over the comm system. "Commander Reece to Ms O'Leary."

She laughed "Ms O'leary?" She replied as she opened the channel. "Really Commander Reece?"

As soon as she replied, the screen activated, revealing Kyle's smiling face. "You know I'm calling from work. I have to at least try to keep up the facade of professionalism." He chuckled softly, then asked, "How's the move going?"

"Going well. The children all have their own rooms. And their belongings are in them already. Yours are in of course, but mine are in progress." Harper said lightly.

He arched an eyebrow. "In progress? Meaning, you took care of everyone else first, before taking care of yourself, didn't you?" There was a look of love and adoration in his eyes as he spoke the words.

"Of course I did. The children need to come home to a proper space." Harper said. "That and I had stuff on the boil at the shop, so it's easier to work on everything else."

Kyle shook his head slightly as he looked at her image on his computer screen. "Have I told you how much I love you lately?"

"Hmm yes," She smiled at him. "I am planning a family dinner as well. A nice meal for our first night together as a family."

"That sounds great!" Kyle replied happily. He looked to something off screen, as he continued. "Barring some unforseen emergency, I should be home by 1800 hours."

"Then dinner will be at 18:30 to give everyone time to clean up before eating. I have to speak with the teacher about Kendra's last math exam at 16h00 so once done we will be ready for food for sure." Harper said as she pressed another button and beamed in a few more items.

A concerned look crossed Kyle's face. "Is she struggling with the calculus and geometry problems again?"

"I am not sure. There was something about lack of effort." Harper shrugged. "She is 9. She does not need to be a genius."

Kyle nodded, though seemed troubled. "No, she doesn't. However, she does need to do her best now, so her future will provide her more opportunities."

Harper raised an eyebrow - "Is now the time to tell you I never completed school?"

Kyle was speechless for a couple beats, then he grinned slightly and looked at Harper's image ruefully. "Why do I have the feeling that, no matter how long we are together, i will never know everything about you?"

Harper waved a hand and the bangles on it jingled. "Keep that in mind Handsome." She teased. "And if you are really good I will read your palm and tell you, your future."

A different smile crossed Kyle's face as he replied. "I look forward to it." He started to end the call, then added, "And even when I'm bad, I'm good." He gave her a playful wink, then ended the call. He would be counting the seconds till she was in his arms.

Harper laughed as the call ended, and went back to moving everyone into the cabin.

A few hours later, Kyle finally made it home from another busy day of work. "Hey guys! Im home!"

The kids that were in the living area got up and ran over to hug him, which he returned with equal intensity.

=

Harper was in the kitchenette cooking with Nimah in a back carrier, the little girl apparently content to supervise proceedings from her perch. Harper hummed softly as she stirred the boiling water before adding the spaghetti a little at a time. She had considered replicating the entire meal. It would certainly have been quicker. But that wasn't the point. Their first meal in their new home wasn't going to come out of a replicator.

The sauce had been the first thing she started, hours earlier, between unpacking boxes and speaking with Kendra's teacher. Harper had browned the meat with finely diced onion and garlic before adding tomatoes, stock and a collection of herbs she had managed to acquire from the Arboretum. There was basil, oregano and parsley, along with a few spices she had brought from the shop.

It had been simmering slowly ever since, reducing into a thick, rich sauce that had filled the entire lower level with its scent. Every so often Nimah would make a noise behind her and Harper would glance sideways as though the little girl had offered some particularly important culinary advice.

"Yes, Chef," Harper said solemnly. "I'm stirring it." Nimah babbled. "No, it doesn't need more salt." Another noise. Harper paused, tasted the sauce from the wooden spoon and considered it. "All right. Maybe a little." She added a pinch.
Cooking for this many people was proving to be an interesting exercise. Harper was accustomed to feeding children, but there was something about putting everyone around the same table tonight that made her keep second-guessing herself.

Was there enough pasta? Probably. She looked at the second packet sitting on the counter. Harper added that too.
Growing children could apparently consume quantities of food that defied several established laws of physics, and leftovers would hardly be a tragedy. Beside the stove she had prepared garlic bread herself, slicing two long loaves and spreading them generously with softened butter mixed with crushed garlic, parsley and a little grated cheese. Those were waiting to go into the oven closer to dinner.

There was also a large salad sitting in the refrigeration unit. Nothing particularly elaborate—greens, cucumber, tomatoes, capsicum, grated carrot and a simple dressing—but Harper had decided something on the table needed to pretend the meal was nutritionally responsible. Dessert was another matter entirely.

That she had planned. Earlier in the afternoon, she'd made a chocolate pudding and divided it between individual little dishes before hiding them at the back of the refrigeration unit. Not replicated chocolate pudding either. Proper pudding.
Harper had even decorated each one differently. It was ridiculous. She knew it was ridiculous. She had done it anyway.

This wasn't simply dinner. It was the first dinner. Their first night with everyone's belongings beneath the same roof. The first evening when none of the children would eventually have to gather their things because they were going somewhere else. Tonight, when bedtime came, everyone would go upstairs to their own room. Tomorrow morning, they would all wake up here. Harper reached for another spoon and tasted the sauce again. "Needs something." Nimah babbled enthusiastically behind her. "I know. I'm thinking." She opened one of the little containers she'd brought home from the shop and added just enough of the spice mixture to deepen the flavour without making it too hot for the younger children.

"There." She tasted it again. "Perfect." Nimah gave a delighted squeal. Harper laughed. "Exactly." She turned the sauce down to its lowest heat and checked the time. Kyle had said 1800. Dinner at 1830. She had deliberately left the table unset.
That part they could do together. Harper didn't want tonight to feel like they were guests attending a dinner she had arranged for them. This was their home now. They could fetch plates, carry glasses, put cutlery on the table and inevitably disagree about something completely inconsequential while doing it. She reached up and felt one of Nimah's hands catch briefly in her hair. "Hey, none of that." Nimah giggled. Harper smiled and went back to stirring.

The cabin still wasn't finished. There were boxes containing her own belongings waiting to be dealt with, several things she wanted to move, and she was fairly certain that within a week the pristine new living area would bear very little resemblance to how Ops had handed it over. Good. Homes weren't supposed to look pristine. They were supposed to smell like garlic and tomatoes. They were supposed to have children's belongings abandoned where they shouldn't be. They were supposed to be noisy. Harper glanced towards the stairs leading to the children's new bedrooms. Tonight, it would be.

She listened now to the older children talking to Kyle at top volume. "HEY!" she called out. "Set the table together!"

Out in the living area, Kyle heard Harper call out to them. He then turned to their children and got everyone moving as a team. While there was some mild bickering, it wasn't anything serious and, in less than five minutes, the table had been set for everyone to sit.

As Kyle moved to the kitchenette, he had the two oldest get drinks for everyone from the replicator. He then stepped up behind Harper and sniffed the air. "I don't know which smells better," he whispered into her ear as he hugged her from behind. "The food or you, but both are making my mouth water."

Harper laughed softly and leaned back against him. Niamh in her carrier giggled at him. She was nearly 1 and trying to grab everything. "Not long until dinner." She said with a smile.

Giving Harper a gentle kiss on her left cheek, he then released her, reluctantly, but before he was unfit for polite company. He then stepped over to Niamh and gently tickled her. "And how about you, my young angel...are you delicious too?" He playfully tickled her chubby little neck and face with kisses and his beard, as he gently lifted her our of her seat, holding her securely in his strong hands.

Harper smiled and watched Niamh giggle with Kyle. "And still wrapped around her finger." She mused as she stirred the sauce. "How was your day Kyle?"

Arching an eyebrow as he glanced back at Harper, Kyle chuckled softly. "Jealous?" He gave her a flirty wink, as he cradled the baby in his arms. "Well, now that things are starting to quiet down, it is getting better. No one trying to shoot us out of the skies. Everyone seems to be on their best behavior aboard the ship. I could get used to this."

Harper nodded. "You have not had to shoot anyone else?" she asked casually. "You know, superior officers and such?"

He gave her a playfully dangerous look, then replied, "Most recently, though there is a certain shop keeper that is in my sights right now. If she's not careful, she could be in some deep trouble."

"The Commodore will ignore any report that says I did anything wrong. She loves the soap I make." Harper said lightly. She began putting food into the serving dishes.

"And who says the Commodore would find out anything? I might just interrogate the shop keeper myself. Possibly later tonight." Before Harper could respond, he stepped out of the kitchenette, carrying little Niamh to her highchair, gently securing her into it. He then looked at their children, all of whomever were sitting quietly at the table. He smiled warmly at them as he spoke. "Alright, everyone take you seat. Dinner is coming out now." He moved back to the kitchenette, gave Harper a gentle kiss on her lips, the whispered softly to her, "Thank you for doing all of this. You are an amazing woman!"

"I enjoy cooking at times." Harper smiled and handed him the pasta and the bread basket. "Here put this on the table." She then carried the meat sauce and salad out.

Kyle followed her to the table, and set the serving dishes down in the middle of the large family table. He helped Harper serve their children. Then, after their own plates had food, he pulled her chair our for her to sit.

Harper thanked him and took her seat and soon everyone was talking, eating, a sound that made Harper beam with joy. A proper family dinner. Children speaking, adults talking to them not at them. It was perfect.

As dinner continued, Kyle listened to their children as, in turn, they told him about their day. It warmed his soul to be where he was. He had experienced much pain over the past several years, but this was slowly erasing that stain from his being. There was nowhere else in creation that he wanted to be, than here with his family.

A few hours later, after everything had been cleared away, and the children were all tucked into bed, Kyle was pouring Harper and himself two glasses of wine, that he had purchased along their journey here in Circinus.

Harper took a look around the lower floor of the cabin and sat down in the lounge area. She kicked off her shoes and took breath. "So glad they are all asleep." She said as she activated the holo nanny in Niamh's room.

Kyle brought the filled glasses over, handing one to Harper, before he sat on the other end of the sofa and, after putting his glass on the end table, pulled her feet into his lap. He then started to slowly rub the soreness out of her muscles and joints. "I just hope the nightmares are done." He was referring to the severe nightmares that Jasric had been having the last week. Nothing thus far had seemed to stop them. Tonight, they had tried the alpha wave inducer, that they had been given from Sickbay.

"Stability will help. Having people around her will help." Harper said softly before sitting her wine. She let her head fall back. "Hmmm that feels great."

Kyle smiled softly as he continued his ministrations. "I know. The last few months have been one emergency after another." He got quiet and let out a soft breath. "She still cries for her parents. She thinks I don't know, but I do. My poor girl has had more heartache than anyone her age should have. I just hope I'm giving her everything she needs, to feel safe and loved."

"You are. Your whole family is. And when we get home I am sure your parents will be over the moon." Harper placed her wine glass on the end table and relaxed. "Once they know you are not going anywhere, things will settle."

He got a bit quiet then. In a soft voice, he asked, "And what happens, when we get home, and the families of our children come to take them back?" His chest fell a bit. "I...I don't know if I could let them go. I love them, Harper, as much as if they were my own blood!"

"We will face that when and if it comes to it Kyle." Harper said softly. "They may not have family back home other than you and yours."

Kyle looked over at Harper as he continued to rub her feet and lower legs. "I know it's only been a relatively short time, Harper...but I hope you know how important to me you are. I love you."

Harper smiled. "I love you too" she said honestly. "We are making a family here Kyle. And if, when or if we get home, and there is issues we will face together."

Her words brought not only a loving smile to his face, but an overwhelming feeling of warmth in his chest. Not since Elizabeth has he felt a connection like this. And even that one, as powerful as it was, did not even come close to how he felt for this woman and their family. Their family....those were two very perfect words in his ears.