Flashback: Noblest of Intentions

Posted on Wed Mar 1st, 2017 @ 7:15pm by Commander Andrew Knight

Mission: Another Day in Paradise
Location: Family Quarters of Austin, Meredith and Ashley Knight
Timeline: 11 Months Ago

ON:

Cara stepped out of the turbolift and headed for the Knight residence, carrying a bottle of Meredith and Austin's favorite wine. She stopped at the door and rang the chime.

"Austin....would you get that?" Meredith called out from the kitchen. "I'm a little busy."

"Yes, dear," Austin said with a touch of playful sarcasm. He opened the door and grinned at Cara. "It's the wine delivery," he called out over his shoulder and took the bottle out of Cara's hand. "Thank you," he said to Cara. "I included the tip when I placed the order," and he pressed the door control. The door started to slid closed.

"Seriously, dude?" Cara said. "That's what they all say. You're just another cheapskate in a whole line of cheapskates I have delivered to today."

Austin laughed and pressed the control again and the door reversed its direction. "Get in here," he said.

Cara laughed and stepped into the residence. Tantalizing aromas wafted from the kitchen. "Something smells great," she called out so Meredith could hear her. "Can I help with anything?"

Meredith came to the kitchen door and shook her head. "Nope. Just have a seat. Austin...pour me some of that wine, please?" she said and ducked back in the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind but we invited Austin's brother to join us," she called out.

Cara shrugged. "Why would I mind?" she asked as Austin handed her a glass of the wine.

"He just got here a week ago and doesn't know anyone yet so Mer felt sorry for him," Austin said as he took another glass to the kitchen.

Ashley stepped out of her room and beamed as she rushed over to Cara and hugged her. "Hey Cara! You'll never guess what happened at school today."

Cara almost spilled her wine as she was "attacked" by the teenager. She hugged her back with one arm as she set her glass on the coffee table so it didn't spill then she wrestled her onto the sofa. "What happened?" she asked, still laughing.

Ashley pressed into Cara on the couch, resting her head on Cara's chest. "I got the lead in the school play!"

Meredith poked her head around the corner and nodded as she too beamed at her daughter. "Yes. We have a galaxy class thespian in the family now."

Cara grinned and held up her hand to Ashley for a high five. "You go girl," she said. "What's the play?"

Ashley pulled out her PADD and brought up the script. "Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare."

Austin finished setting the table and stepped back to examine his efforts. "That should pass inspection," he muttered and picked up his glass of wine from the nearby credenza.

Drew arrived carrying a bouquette of flowers he had picked up from the Promenade on his way to his brothers quarters. He depressed the chime and hefted the floral arrangement.

Austin went to the door and opened it. "Hey. Come on in," he said. "Honey? Did you order a florist shop?" he called out referring to the large bouquet.

Drew just scoffed at his older brother as he stepped inside. "Why is it always the jokes with you? I thought you would have grown out of it by now."

Meredith finally stepped out of the kitchen and crossed to greet her brother-in-law with a hug and peck on the cheek. She took the bouquette of carnations from Drew. "For me?"

Drew nodded with a small bow.

"Nice to see somebody thinks I am worthy of flowers from time to time." She smacked the bouquette into Austin's chest, but her smile betrayed the love she felt for her husband.

Austin wrinkled his nose up at Meredith then took the flowers to put in a vase.

Ashley waited for the adults to finish their initial greeting, then she launched herself from the couch and all but bowled Drew over giving him a big hug. "UNCLE DREW!!!"

Drew hugged his niece back fiercely then took hold of her shoulders, holding her at arms length. "You must have grown a whole half meter since I last saw you." He held a hand at about stomach high on Ashley then tweaked her nose when she looked down.

Ashley gave a mock annoyed frown as she rubbed her nose, but laughter broke free from her as she grabbed his hand and dragged him back over towards the couch. "Hey Cara. This is my Uncle Drew. Well, I guess you'd call him Lieutenant Knight."

Cara smiled, politely, and said, "nice to meet you. I'm Cara."

Drew returned the smile with one of his own as he nodded a greeting to Cara. "Andrew Knight, though my closest friends call me Drew. So please, consider yourself one of them."

"Cara's the Director of our Medical Facility," Austin said as he handed Drew a glass of the wine Cara brought.

To deflect the spotlight from herself, Cara said, "Ashley was just telling us about the school play she got the lead in."

Ashley sat back down on the couch next to Cara and pulled Drew down on her other side. "Yeah! I'm gonna be playing Katherina in Taming of the Shrew. Isn't that great?"

Drew gave an emphatic and approving nod of his head. "That is great kiddo. You know I saw that on Broadway a few years back. Even got to go back stage and met Diana Corvan who played Katherina in that production."

Ashley's eyes went wide with astonishment. "Really? She is like the greatest Shakespearean actress of all time."

Drew smiled at Ashley, then gave Cara a look.

Cara was immersed with what Ashley was saying, smiling and nodding as the animated teenager talked about her lead role.

Meredith disappeared into the kitchen and called out, "Austin? Want to give me a hand?"

"Excuse me," Austin said and ducked into the kitchen.

"Meredith turned to her husband, then looked passed him to the door before addressing him in a hushed tone. "Do you think Drew will like Cara?"

Austin glanced over his shoulder for a moment and nodded as he faced his wife again. "All Knight men have a weakness for beautiful redheads. It's why I married you."

Meredith swatted at Austin with a hand towel. "Take the food out to the dinner table you brat."

He returned, followed by his wife, both carrying serving dishes which they placed on the table. "Dinner is served, folks," he announced.

Drew stood and reached down in turn to help both Ashley and Cara to their feet. "After you ladies."

Cara took Drew's hand and stood up. She smiled at him and headed for the table. "Pot roast, Mer? Wow! I'm glad I wore something stretchy," she said as she took a seat at the round dining table.

"I hope it tastes as good as it looks," Meredith said. "Ashley? You can sit here between daddy and Cara," she said, pointing to the chair on Cara's right, "Drew can sit over there, " she said, indicating the chair directly opposite Cara then she pulled out the chair on Cara's left and sat down.

Drew stepped around the table and held out the chair for Cara and then Ashley, before rounding the table again to take his seat.

Austin sliced the roast and held out his hand to Cara for her dish, which she handed him, and he placed two slices of the aromatic meat onto her plate and handed it back to her. Then he did the same with Ashley then Drew.

Meredith passed the bowl of vegetables that had been cooked with the roast to Cara.

Cara took the bowl and dished a few carrots and chunks of potatoes onto her plate the passed the bowl to Ashley.

Serving dishes were passed back and forth, plates loaded up with delicious foods, then seasoned and spiced to individual tastes.

Drew looked at Cara as he passed her the salt. "Meredith says your the Chief Medical Officer. How do you like that?"

"I am," Cara said as she salted her gravy laden potatoes. "I miss being able to be more active in patient care," she said. "The administrative side of running this big of a medical facility take up most of my time it seems." She took a bite and smiled while chewing, giving Meredith a thumbs up. "What is your job?" she asked after she swallowed and prepared another forkful.

Drew raised his wine glass and took a sip. "I'm a special warfare officer. Starfleet Command has assigned me to take point in establishing an additional tactical response unit to augment security and marine forces."

"Sounds like fun," Cara said with partial sarcasm. "The marines on 900 are a bit rowdy," she said. "They should prove to be a handful."

Meredith laughed. "Rowdy is being nice, Cara," she said. "We get at least three a week in the ER for stupid injuries sustained during their macho pis...." she stopped, realizing Ashley was present. "....macho contests."

"So what does a Special Warfare Officer do for fun?" Cara asked as she took another bite of her roast. She was being polite but her main interest was the fabulous home cooked meal Meredith had prepared. She didn't cook so she relied on her friend and the fabulous chef in the officers' mess for home cooked meals.

"I like playing sports. I do a lot of individual athletics too, fencing and gymnastics." He paused as he took a bite and chewed the savory roast before continuing. "I love the outdoors, camping, fishing, sailing, rock climbing."

Ashley looked between Cara and Drew. She decided to throw her two cents in. "Dad used to tell me stories about the him and Uncle Drew being in dart, pool and bowling leagues too."

"Really?" Cara said, looking across the table. "Nine or 8 ball?" she asked.

Meredith glanced over at Austin and winked. Austin was still dubious as he finished off his roast beef and went for seconds.

Drew looked across the table at Cara. "I prefer nine ball." He took a sip from his glass of water. "Though I will play eight ball if my opponent is more comfortable with that game."

"Eight ball is for rookies," Cara smirked as she sopped up her gravy with a dinner roll then popped it into her mouth.

"Cara fishes," Meredith said as she tossed her napkin on her empty plate and took a sip of her wine. Looking around Cara at Ashley she frowned and said, "don't just move your vegetables around on your plate, young lady. Eat them."

Ashley sighed, then made a big production of spearing some of her vegetables and eating them. "See mom. I ate my vegetables. Now may I have some of the blackberry pie?"

Drew chuckled at the mother-daughter vegetable conflict before looking back at Cara. "What about you? Do you prefer river or deep sea fishing?"

"Just wait for the rest of us," Austin said to his daughter.

"Actually I prefer a fresh water lake," Cara answered Drew's question. "On Earth I used to have a special place I would go every chance I got. It had the most beautiful rainbow trout and the largest catfish I have ever seen. Cooked over an open fire?" she kissed the tips of her fingers and said, "delicious." She put her napkin next to her empty plate and took a sip of her wine. "You look like a deep sea man."

Austin answered for his younger brother on that one. "Oh, he is. We both are actually. Dad would take us out on fishing charters into the Pacific every summer."

Drew confirmed his older brother's statement with a nod. He gestured between Austin and himself. "We caught a 325 kilo Marlin together one time."

Austin started to rise from the table. "I think I actually still have that picture of us with it. Give me a sec...."

Meredith coughed loudly. "Ahem. I thought the rule was no one left the dinner table until we were done." It was clear she wasn't asking a question, but making an adament statement.

Austin sat back down. "Your absolutely right dear."

"Impressive," Cara said to Drew. "I never tried it. It seems like it would be exciting....all that battling of the wills sort of thing. I guess it would be the same as sitting on a wild horse for the first time. Even though you have spent weeks developing trust between you once he feels your weight on his back there is a fight to figure out who is in control." She glanced at Ashley and winked. "Kind of like a teenager seeing how far they can push their parents."

Both Meredith and Austin laugh, nodding in agreement.

"Hey now!" Ashley had a slightly indignant expression. "May I remind you all that I am a Straight A student. I do all my homework and house chores before doing the fun stuff. So there!" She stuck a tongue out at all the adults.

Drew just nodded his support to his niece. "No worries kiddo. I got your back on this." He looked at both Austin and Meredith, finally settling his gaze on his older brother. "You know you couldn't ask for a better child than the one you have in Ashley. Right?"

Both parents gave their daughter an adoring smile and nod. Meredith spoke first. "Drew is right sweetie. We are very thankful for you being the bright and responsible young lady that you are." Austin chiming in just a moment later. "Yeah. What your Mom said, goes double for me."

"Gee. Thanks." Ashley gave her parents a dubious look...for all of two seconds before starting to giggle and finally laugh hard.

Dessert was served and consumed and Austin got up from the table. "Homework, Princess," he said to Ashley and stretched. "Delicious as always, my love," he said to his wife.

"I second that," Cara said, tossing her napkin on her plate and getting to her feet. "Let me help you clear the table," she said to Meredith.

"Nonsense," Meredith said, getting up. "Austin can help me. You go have a seat and I'll make some coffee."

"Oh...no coffee for me," Cara said. "I have an early staff meeting and if I drink any coffee now I will never get to sleep." As if on cue a yawn crept out of her and she covered her mouth. "Maybe I shouldn't have had so much to eat. I"m bushed."

Ashley helped her folks clear the table and then bounded off to her room to finish up her homework but not before wishing Drew and Cara a good night and giving them both hugs for good measure.

Drew glanced at his watch and shook his head. "None for me either. I've got to get back to my quarters and work on my first weekly status report for my bosses back at Starfleet Command."

Meredith frowned for a moment, then her eyes glinted with just a hint of Machiavellian mischief. "Well, OK then, but Drew. Would you please be a dear and walk Cara back to her quarters?"

Cara smiled, politely, at Drew and held up her hand. "As much as I appreciate the whole chivalry thing...I need to stop by my office before I head home and I am perfectly capable of getting there on my own. Mer? Austin? It was a pleasure as usual. Thank you very much. Drew? It was nice to meet you. Welcome to the 900," she said, inching towards the door.

"Nonsense Cara. I know your reports aren't due until close of business tomorrow. You will get up at five and be in by six to finish them off. So you might as well take Drew up on his offer to walk you home." Meredith's expression held an intense insistence that brooked no argument.

Austin stood back a bit, the barest hint of a devilish grin starting to play across his face. "You best just do as she asks guys."

Drew's look was one of uncertainty, but after a moments hesitation he simply shrugged. "I really don't mind walking you Cara." He gestured to the door.

Throwing her hands up in surrender, Cara said, "Oh fine, Mer," then looked at Drew and shrugged. "She's a pushy broad but I love her," she said with a chuckle and hit the door control. Waving over her head to Austin and Meredith, she walked out into the corridor and waited for Drew to catch up.

Ashley poked her head out of her room and then looked at her parents both looking at the door and smiling. "You guys do know it's not going to work right?"

Austin and Meredith both looked at their daughter. Then cast a concerned glance at the door Cara and Drew had just left through.

Once the door was closed Cara said, "You really don't have to do this, you know. It's not like we live in a high crime area."

Drew shrugged and gestured down the corridor. "I really don't mind." He hitched a thumb over his shoulder at the door. "Give us a chance to talk about what they were up to anyway."

Cara chuckled. "You noticed that," she said more as a statement than a question.

Drew looked back over his shoulder as they walked and chuckled. "A blind Vulcan would have been able to figure out what Austin and Meredith were trying to do to us."

Cara shook her head. "Meredith. She fancies herself a matchmaker," Cara laughed. "She feels that just because she and Austin are so sickeningly happy that everyone should be. She doesn't get that not everyone needs to be attached to someone else to be happy. "

Drew gave a nod, indicating he concurred whole-heartedly with Cara's assessment. "I know. Right?"

"So we are in agreement?" Cara asked as they stepped into the tubolift and headed for her deck. Cara had nothing against an occasional no strings attached date in public settings but she had never felt the need for anything permanent. The whole "being in love" thing...although not lost on her...was not something she aspired to. Her love was being a physician.

"If you mean being friends Doctor Nichols, then yes, we have an accord." Drew struck out his hand to shake Cara's.

Cara shook Drew's hand just as the turbolift came to a stop and the door slid open.