Coming Home and Other Huge Mistakes

Posted on Mon Aug 12th, 2019 @ 8:50am by Lieutenant JG Gallia Norris
Edited on on Mon Aug 19th, 2019 @ 10:02am

Mission: Mission 2: Heaven On Earth
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida, Big Sam's Deli
Timeline: during shoreleave
1292 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

It was unavoidable, she was on Earth, so she had to go home, even if only for lunch with her mother. Hopefully her Dad would be pleasant and she could avoid Ricky entirely. The worst part was that her mom probably was expecting her to walk into the deli with Anya, I had expected that, too, mama. Sorry to disappoint. Taking a deep breath she walked into the deli to see her entire family waiting for her., Well, shit... she sighed internally, "Hi, didn't expect all of you..."

"Oh, come on, bubbi, did you really think we weren't all going to be here to meet your new girlfriend and see you for the first time since you enlisted?" Her mother, Amanda, said with a grin, "I was not going to miss seeing my baby."

Her father, the owner, proprietor, and namesake of the business just stood there glaring daggers at her, his arms folded as he stayed silent.

Jacob and Jackson were the first to move to greet their sister, "Sami, it's so good to see you again." Jacob smiled, embracing his sister.

"Right." Jackson agreed, "Dad said you were never coming back..."

"Daddy, I never said that!" Sami immediately protested.

"No, what I said is I didn't want you back." Sam replied tersely, standing to leave, "And I still don't." Without another word he was out of the room, cursing under his breath as he went into the walk-in cooler and began loudly chopping meat.

"Well, this is wonderful..." Sami sighed, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh, honey, don't be that way." Amanda encouraged, "You know how your father is, you can't let him get to you." She'd spent thirty years almost defending the man as her boyfriend and later husband, she couldn't stop now, even if she was furious with him in that moment, Hope he likes that couch in the living room, because he's gonna be there for a while.

Her oldest brother, Stephen came over next, "It's okay, Sam." He reassured her, "Pop's just set in his ways and worried sick about you being out there so far from home. I mean, that thing on Cortic had us all worried."

"And what am I doing, you ask?" Ricky, the youngest of her brothers and chief tormentor, interjected, "Only running the hottest bistro in the Bay Area AND hosting the 'Good Eats' segment of the Channel 9 News while you... what? Change the oil on that massive starship of yours?"

"Ricky, why don't you shut the fuck up for once?" Stephen asked, he had long ago grown tired of Ricky's antics, especially the way he treated Sami, "I'm fed up with how you treat our sister."

"Stevie, please, language." His mother said with a cringe, she hated that word. Turning to Ricky, she said, "Ricky, not everything is about you, honey. Please be nice to your sister."

"I should go, got to get back to the ship..." Sami sighed, turning to leave as quickly as possible.

"What?" Ricky sneered, "Overdue for an oil change? Or are you scraping microbes off of the hull?"

"Ricky, please!" Amanda plead, she hated watching her children fight and Ricky always seemed to want to fight Sami.

"What?" Ricky shrugged, "She doesn't care enough about any of us to so much as drop a message, then she waltzes in here like she's the Queen of Sheba or something and we're supposed to roll out the..."

"Damn it, Ricky, I said shut up." Steve reiterated, this time with substantially more threat in his voice, baby brother was pending for a bending.

As her brothers continued to argue and her mother tried to make peace between them, Sami sent a message to Gallia: I've made a huge mistake coming back here. Bail me out?

Gallia, reading over some reports at her desk while sipping her morning orange juice, replied to the message almost instantly: On my way.

On her way? Why not just recall me to the ship? Sami wondered, a smirk crossing her lips as she came to the realization that Gallia was up to something, This oughta be good.

"So, tell me, Miss Too-Good-For-Her-Own-Family, where's this sexy girlfriend of yours?" Ricky laughed derisively, "Probably only exists in Melonhead's mind."

"Rick, dude, knock it off." Jackson said, he had also heard enough out of Ricky.

"Yeah," Sam asked as he stepped out of his cooler with many pounds of sliced beef brisket in the tray he carried, "Where is this goddess you're sticking your nose up at us for? Or did you tell her we were dead?"

"Sam! Enough!" Amanda hissed, this was the first time in their marriage she'd fired back at him for something he'd said to the kids.

The sound of a beam in brought Sami some sort of delight, Gallia was coming, no doubt with a padd in hand to tell her of some sort of emergency that would force her to return immediately to Elysium.

Jacob saw the redhead first, trying hard to play it cool, but totally unable, managing only to mutter, "Hoe-ly..."

"Ach! There ye are mah love." Gallia said as she entered, her red bottomed heels clicking against the checkerboard tile of the deli's floor, "Ah'm so sarry Ah took sah long getting here ta meet yar family." She turned to meet the others, revealing the slit up to the hip of her short, sequined black dress, "Permit me ta introduce mahself, Gallia Diane Fraser, Fourteenth Lady Lovat."

"Oooh, a real life Lady." Amanda gasped, "And so beautiful, my Sami didn't do you justice, dahling!"

Sami, having finally gotten her wits back about her, moved over and placed her arms around Gallia's waist, "In my defense it's kind of hard to do this one justice."

"Hi, Ricky Justice..." Ricky interrupted, checking his hair and extending a hand to this fiery woman he intended to wrest away from Melonhead.

"How nice for you." Gallia replied, turning away from him, "So, Mrs. Justice, Ah'd be honored if ye'd make the intraducshuns."

"Oh, I'd love to!" She beamed, "This is my oldest son, Stevie, he's a cop here in St. Pete, these are my twins, Jackson and Jacob, you've met Ricky, oh, and that big piece of beef back there is my husband, Samuel. Samuel, say hello to Lady Lovat..."

"Oh, please, just Gallia." Gallia offered, these people were her 'lover's family' after all.

"It's a real pleasure to meet you, Gallia." Sam nodded, legitimately impressed, "Samantha, ya know, I still don't support this, but, I mean, if women are what you want at least you're ordering off the top shelf."

"Thanks, Dad." Sami smiled, it was likely the closest thing to approval she would ever get from him.

"Top shelf?" Jacob laughed, "Nah, dad, this is the good stuff they hide in the back."

"And we would look just smashing together on TV, Gallia." Ricky interjected again, "You know, I host the..."

"Oh, that's right! You're that buffoon from Channel 6!" Gallia retorted, pretending that she had just realized who he was, "You really need to tone it down, yer almost unbelievable as a chef. Yer what? A comedian?"

"Channel 9, Gallia..." Ricky corrected her.

"Lady Lovat, Ricky." Gallia corrected him in return, turning to continue her conversations with the others.

The next hour passed like it was mere seconds, even quicker after Ricky had to suddenly leave for 'important things' at the station. Her dad even made her a pastrami sandwich, her favorite, as they sat around the table and enjoyed each other's company. For the first time in a long time, Sami could honestly say it was good to be home.