Swim with the Duckies

Posted on Sun Apr 19th, 2020 @ 5:46pm by Lieutenant JG Gallia Norris & Captain Gary Taylor
Edited on on Mon May 11th, 2020 @ 2:07pm

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Holodeck1
Timeline: TBD
3591 words - 7.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Gary walked down the corridor, a towel draped over his shoulder. He was on a mission. A mission to teach a very
important blueberry how to swim. He had a thermal suit on under his uniform for the simple fact was the water
they would be in while cold to him would be perfect for Tayalas. Along with the fact he had no desire to catch a
cold or worse when it could be easily prevented. It was time for Operation Swim with the Duckies to begin.

He arrived at his destination and rang the chime to Gallia and Kara's quarters. As he awaited entrance. He hoped
Tay was looking forward to her lesson.

The door opened to reveal Gallia with Tayalas, already in her little yellow swimsuit and duckie float ring, "Well, good a ye to come by, Commander." Gallia said, stepping aside and allowing him in, "Would ye like some coffee or tea before ye go?"

"Cofetea, Sana?" Tayalas repeated her mother's offer, she knew grown ups loved their coffee, though she didn't know why. She'd taken a taste of Mommy Kara's, it was bitter, a nasty taste. But, she was going to go swim with her Sana, that was the important part of the day for her.

"Hello Gallia and my pleasure. "Gary answered as he stepped inside and dropped to his knees to talk to Tayalas. "Hello Tay! My you look beautiful! A little ray of sunshine I see your ready for our swimming lesson and yes I'd like a glass of tea if you please." He answered with a smile.

"Tank oo, Sana." Tay replied sweetly, "We go swimmy swim?"

"Ye're goin' Tay, let the man have a minute, please?" Gallia laughed, that child would never be able to claim patience as a strong suit, much like Dolana, "Ye dinnae need the floatie though, love, Cdr. Taylor's gonna teach ye how to swim proper for when ye're too big for a floatie."

"Too big?" Tayalas' eyes grew wide with horror, how could she ever be too big for her beloved ducky floatie? Was there really a point in life where you had to abandon the friends you made as a baby? The ones who should be your friends for life? That couldn't be the case, that would just be cruel, to them and her.

"Well, yes, darlin', as ye grow, ye'll weigh more than yer duckie can hold up." Gallia explained, wondering why she was trying to explain concepts of biology and physics to a child of less than two.

"Is good duckie." Tayalas protested, "Is my fren!"

"I know, darlin', but there's only so much weight one can hold, even if it is your good friend." Gallia continued, "But, it'll be okay, because you'll be able te swim an' get good exercise outta it, keep ye from gettin' chunky."

"Wha's chunky?" Tay asked, her expression of curiosity replacing her initial one of horror.

"Tha's when ye eat too many chicky nuggies and maccy cheese, love." Gallia laughed, "Ye gotta burn that stuff off, tell her, Commander."

Gary struggled not to laugh at the conversation between Gallia and Tayalas. It was precious to watch as Tay struggled to understand as Gallia struggled to explain. "Tay sweetie, you want to stay slim so you can swim like a fish. If you get chunky you'll bob like an apple and that's no fun. As for duckie, you bring him with you. He can watch you as you swim. See how well your doing."

"I bing duckie!" Tayalas said excitedly, she truly loved duckie, all duckies, and she wanted him there when she started this new thing, "We go now?"

Gallia handed the XO a glass of iced tea, sweet with lemon, figured being from the Western part of the former United States that was how he'd take it, "There ye go." She smiled, taking a glass for herself and sipping it on the sofa beside Tay, "Aye, ye want te stay in shape te stay healthy, baby, tha's what."

"Yalas stay healfy, mommyyy." The little blueberry pledged, it obviously meant a lot to mommy.

"Right, tha's a good girl." Gallia smiled, "Now, once we finish our drinks, ye two will go swimmin' an' ye can learn how to dae it right, so ye won't have te have duckie te take care of ye."

"Thank you Gallia." Gary replied as he took the glass of tea and sipped it. "Hmmm. Very good. My compliments. He nodded at Tay. "Of course bring duckie, he can watch and see how well your doing. Then when you get back you can tell Mommy Kara how well you did. She'll be so proud and excited for you. You might get an extra choccy chip cookie."

"Lub choccy chip cookie." Tayalas smiled, though her information wasn't exactly fresh intel for anyone there.

"Aye, that she does." Gallia smiled along, "An' she can have an extra, no problem, jus' as long as she eats dinner first."

"Wha' fa dinner?" Tayalas asked, mommy made the tastiest food.

"Well, I thought aboot makin' spaghetti an' sausage, love." Gallia replied, "With a side salad with ranch dressing. Ye like?"

"Yes, mommyyy." Tayalas grinned, though she'd never heard of Ranch dressing for anything but dipping nuggies before, "Wha's pis-schetti?"

"Spaghetti, love, they're noodles in sauce."Gallia explained, she hoped Tay would love it as much as she did at her age, she couldn't feed her chicken nuggets all the time after all.

Gary watched the byplay between Gallia and Tay. It was wondrous to watch. That they loved each other was an understatement. It was clear to see that they adored each other. Tay with her wide eyed innocence and wonder and Gallia with the patience of a saint. He finished his glass of tea and set it on the end table. "That was excellent." He looked over at Tay. "You ready for your swimming lesson, my angel?"

"Yes, sanaaa, we go swimmy swims and then we has pis-schetti." Tayalas smiled, jumping down from the sofa and making her way to him, offering her hand, "Yalas ready."

Gary took her tiny hand in his, "That's right we go swimmy swims and then you can have your spaghetti and tell both your mommys how well you did today."

"You has pis-schetti with me, Sana?" Tayalas asked, she had been counting on the fact he was going to be there with her already, "Mommyyy cook good, you like."

"I don't know angel. We don't want to surprise mommy. We'll see when we get back okay? And I have no doubt your Mommy cooks good. I see how much you like it."

"Mommy make good foods." Tayalas promised as she walked alongside her Sana, her best non-plush friend on the ship, "Okay, we swimmy swim now, Sana."

"I know she does darling. I see how you and Mommy Kara like it." Gary answered as they arrived at the holodeck. "Okay here we are, You ready to go swimmy swim?"

"Yay!" Tayalas squealed, she knew it was okay to do that here where they were playing, but not at the house where one of her mommy's might be sleeping, "We go swimmy swim!"

Gary beamed at Tay's excitement. He spoke to the computer. "One standard pool with railings along the sides and steps leading up to it and into pool. Water temperature at 64 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition make sure all safeties are on." He know the water need to be cool for Tay so she could one enjoy it and two not be too hot for her. He turned to his blueberry. "Alright, time to go swimmy swim!" As he led her inside.

"I go swimmy swim with Sanaaaa." Tay sang, it was her hobby as she'd gotten more verbal, if everyone loved it when she talked, she figured they'd love it even more when she sang them a song, grownups loved music.

Gary laughed at her as Tay sang her newest song. "You sure are!" He answered as he led her up the steps. He took off his uniform to reveal the thermal suit he was wearing. "Wait right there Tay." He said as he jumped into the pool. The water was cool but the suit protected him. He felt it would be perfect for Tay. "Okay Tay, walk to the edge and feel the water. Is it too cold?"

Gingerly, Tay stuck one little blue foot into the water, smiling broadly as it was just right, cold enough for her but not too cold, "Is good, Sana!" She replied joyously, he had really gone out of his way to make sure everything was right for her, "I comes in now?"

"Good sweetie." He moved closer to the edge and reached his arms up and placed them on Tay's waist. "We're going to let you get use to the water first. You can jump in later." With that he moved into the pool, letting the water come up around them as he watched Tay's reaction for any sign of displeasure.

Tay, for her part, merely giggled, this was great. She cast a sideways glance at her duckie sitting on the pool edge, watching her, this was her first time in the water without him and she was nervous since he was her water protector, but she knew Sana would take care of her, so she wasn't afraid.

"You are doing great Tay!" Gary encouraged the child as they bobbed in the pool. "Now for the next step. You ready to float?"

"Yes, Sanaa." Tayalas answered with a smile, "How I do?" She wanted to do what Sana wanted her to, but first he needed to tell her how.

"I'm going to show you. Then you can be a first class floater." Gary told her. "First we get you on your back." He said as he placed one hand under and with the other turned her. "Now take your arms and legs and stick em out as far as they can go." He watched her do as he said. "Perfect. Now take a deep breath and let it out slow." As he removed one hand but kept the other under Tay's back.

Tay followed his instructions completely, because that's what good girls do, and listening to the teacher in this case was a really good idea. Releasing her breath slowly she started to giggle, this was a great feeling, she knew now why duckie smiled all the time, this was what he did all the time, "Fun." She announced with a giggle, it definitely was that.

"That's my girl. You're doing great." Gary replied and Tay was. She was doing exceptionally well, showing no fear of the water as she floated in the pool. "Now you can float, just like duckie." Gary said not knowing Tay had that thought already. "He's very proud of you."

"Hi, duckie!" Tayalas spoke to her beloved pool toy, "Lub oo!"

"Quack, Quack, Quack." Gary said as Tay spoke to her toy. "He says he loves you too Tay and that to keep up the good work."

"Tank oo, duckie!" Tayalas called out to her friend, continuing to float along and enjoy the cool water, Sana had really done something cool for her this time, this was great.

Gary chuckled at Tayalas's happiness. She was doing marvelously floating. he decided to try the next step. "Alright there. Miss Champion Floater. You want to try swimmy swim now?"

"Yes, Sanaa, we swimmy swim now." Tayalas cooed, this was the part she was really excited about.

"Yes we are." Gary said as he moved them into the shallow end so Tayalas could stand up. "Now when we swim, we don't slap the water, we cup our hands like so. " He showed her "And that pulls us through the water. You also need to kick your legs." Watch me. I'll show you." Gary said as he immediately swam from one of the pool to the other. When he came back. He asked her, You try. I'll be right beside you. Take a deep breath when you start and hold it. We'll get to breathing while you swim later."

"Okay, I try." Tayalas replied earnestly, attempting to mimic his prior motions and doing a decent job, for someone less than two anyway, turning every so often to make sure he was still there with her.

Gary was very impressed with Tay's efforts as she swam. He stayed right by her side. Even with the safeties on he would let no harm come to her. "You are doing great Tay! Keep it up!" Gary encouraged her as she swam and enjoyed herself.

"I do it!" Tayalas exclaimed excitedly, this was nowhere near as hard to learn as she was afraid it might be.

"You sure are doing it! keep it up! " Gary told Tayalas as she swam next to him. "Next we need to teach you how to dive into the pool. That's really cool and you'll really impress both your mommies."

"Okay, Sana." Tayalas replied sweetly, she would do anything for her Sana.

Gary walked next to Tay as she swam. "Okay hot stuff. Time for me to treat you. Climb onto my back." Gary lowered himself so Tay could get onto his back, "Now hold on tight. When I count three take a deep breath and hold it and don't let go. Okay?"

"Okie, Sana." Tayalas agreed as she climbed onto his back, "I ready."

"Good girl. Here we go, remember big breath and hold it. One, Two, Three." On three, Gary slowly slid down so he was underwater. He then preceded to swim the pool with Tayalas on his back. He didn't stay down long because he knew she couldn't hold her breath long. But wanted to give her a treat and get her use to swimming, being under water. After a few seconds he came up. "You okay sunshine?"

"Uh huh." Tayalas replied after a second getting her breath back, "Me good. Was fun. We do again?"

"We sure will." Gary answered, happy Tayalas was enjoying herself. He repeated the process and again swam under water with Tay on his back, Again not staying down too long. When he surfaced he asked her again. "You okay Tay?"

"Yeah! Me lub swimmy swim!" Tayalas said between giggles, this was the most fun she'd had in a very long time, since her reindeer ride with Sib at Christmas at least.

Gary's face split into a radiant smile. "That's wonderful sunshine. I'm glad you love swimmy swim. We can do any time you want and the more you swim, the better you'll get."

Wait, this gets better? Tayalas thought, though she wasn't sure how it could, this was wonderful, "We do more."

"We sure will do more but first. We need to get you back to your mommies. It's almost dinner time and we don't want your mommies mad if your late." Gary answered with a smile.

"Okay." Tayalas replied, trying hard to hide her disappointment at the sudden end of their play time, but she didn't want to get Sana in trouble with her mommies, "We go home for dinner now. We has pis-schetti."

"We will but first one more spin around the pool. You ready my A Number one swimmer?" Gary asked his student.

"Peeasse?" Tayalas asked sweetly, though she'd been asked to participate by Sana, not the other way around. Still, didn't hurt to be nice.

"You betcha! Here we go! Dive, Dive, Dive! " Then Gary made a sound like an old World War II submarine diving he had seen on some old vids. "Ooo-gah! Oooo-gah!" as the pair slip beneath the surface of the pool and once again frolicked under water.

When they came up Tayalas clapped and giggled, thrilled beyond belief to be doing this, "Yay! Tank oo, Sana!" She said, giggling all the while.

Gary turned so he could see Tayalas, making sure he held onto her, "You are welcome my angel. We'll do it again. There is still more for you to learn. But for now it's time to get you home."

"Kay, Sana." Tayalas smiled, "We can go." She wrapped her arms around Sana's neck, waiting for him to lift them out of the water, "Tank oo, had fun."

"You are welcome precious." Gary replied as he got them out of the water and then got Tayalas dry except for her hair. Then dried himself off. He gathered up his uniform and took Tay's hand. "We're off to see Tay's mommies! What wonderful mommies they are! Because, because of all the wonderful things they do!" He sang as they left the holodeck.

"We off to see my mommies, wunnerful mommies they are." Tayalas sang along with Sana's song, happy to be included in these thing with him, "We gonna eat pis-schetti, an' choccy chippy cookies, too! Wunnerful thing to do!"

He laughed and smiled as Tayalas sang with him. Happy to make her happy. "Sing, it sweetie! Sing!" He encouraged as they made their way up the corridors and to Gallia and Kara's quarters.

"We off to see my mommies to tell them about swimmy swim." Tayalas sang and laughed, then stopped, they'd left someone behind, "Sana, we need go back, get Ducky."

Gary stopped and looked at her and realized she was right. He felt a blush creeping up his cheeks. He felt so stupid. "Your right Tay. Lets go get Ducky, we can't leave him." The pair quickly retraced their steps to the holodeck and found Ducky sitting on the floor looking so alone and forlorn.
"There's Ducky! We came back for you!" Gary shouted as he picked up the float toy and handed it Tayalas. "There he's safe now."

"Hewo, Ducky, I missed oo." Tayalas said in way of apology to her inflatable bestie, kissing his head on the bill and laughing, joyous to be reunited with him.

Gary was thankful all was right with the world as they head back to Gallia and Kara's quarters. "I'm sorry I forgot you Ducky." Gary said in an apologetic voice.

"He no mad at ye." Tayalas answered, sounding more than a little like her mommy when she did, "It's all good."

"Why thank Ducky. Thank you too Tayalas." Gary replied to the child's sweet answer. Soon they were at the door to the quarters. "Well we're here. I bet mommy will be glad to see you."

The door opened to reveal Gallia, her face covered in an ear to ear smile, "Well, ye're back sooner than expected, dinner isnae done yet. Please, come in."

"We swimmy swim, mommyyy." Tayalas recounted excitedly, "We go undiewater, too! Sana rescoo Ducky, good day. We home now."

"Well, I see that, my love." Gallia replied, taking Tayalas from her boss and smiling, "An' Sana took good care a ye, didn'he?"

"Yes, mommyyy." Tayalas replied, grinning to beat the proverbial band,"We singy sing walking home."

"Oh, did ye now?" Gallia laughed, her baby had become quite the minstrel as of late, breaking into song frequently to the delight of everyone within earshot, "The more words she learns, the more she wants te sing 'em."

Gary watched the interaction between Gallia and Tayalas. It was endearing to watch. The love so evident between them. He knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Tayalas had captured his heart and he couldn't love her anymore if she was his. "Tayalas did great. She can float and swim though we still need to work on her stroke. She underwater on my back and wasn't afraid at all. When we go back we'll work on her stroke and diving."

"I knew she would do great. A wee genius this one." Gallia bragged, though she wasn't far off, Tayalas was very intellectually advanced, "Ye two be careful with that divin' though, please. We got antennae to factor in with this one right here, dinnae wanna break one off in an accident."

"We sure don't want that to happen. Maybe we'll wait on diving for a bit and just work on swimmy swim." Gary said hoping to ease Gallia's concern.

"Right, swimmy swim first, mommyyy." Tayalas grinned, her mommy worried about her too much, but it was good to know how much she cared, some people didn't get to have their mommy around like she did and she felt so bad for them.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Gary said smiling at them both.

"Commander, I dinnae think Kara's gonna make it for dinner." Gallia began, "Still workin' out the boogs on that new drive, will ye join us? Would be a joy for Tay."

"Yeah, Sana, has pis-schetti with us, peeasse?" Tayalas' mouth only asked, but her big brown eyes begged.

Tayalas had him at Yeah Sana. "If your sure it's alright. I would be delighted to have pis-schetti with you." Gary answered unable to deny Tayalas anything.

"Yay! Mommy, we has pis-schetti with Sana!" Tayalas celebrated, this was a real treat in the making, "An' then choccy chippy cookies."

"Right ye are, darling." Gallia smiled, rubbing her baby's still damp hair, "An' maybe after we eat ye can singy sing for us? Mommy like the baby duck song."

"I sing baby duck for mommyyy an' Sana." Tayalas promised, holding her little rubber coated spoon in her right hand as if raising her sword in a traditional Highlands pledge.

"This will be an evenin' ye'll never forget, Sir." Gallia smiled, setting plates on the table and on Tay's high chair.



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