A Legionnaires Tale - Becoming a Family

"Daddy?" said a voice, followed immediately by a fingertip gently poking my cheek.  Maybe if I don't respond he might go back to his bed.  "Daddy?" said the voice again, and now I'm being poked in both cheeks.  While I wouldn't trade being a father and a parent for anything in the world; there is one drawback for me in raising a Serpentine child, I'm outnumbered 4 to 2.  Still poking my cheeks, H'hsssatt lifted both my eyelids with his upper thumbs.  "Daddy, are you awake?" he asked.

"I am now; sshh or you'll wake Mommy up, too." I replied softly as he let go of my eyelids.

"I'm ssso cold, Daddy, can I get in bed with you?" he asked and punctuated that with a shiver.

"Sure." I replied and lifted the covers for him to crawl in with us.  He was as cold as ice when he coiled his tail around my foot.  I need to remember to get better pajamas for him.  It seemed like I had just closed my eyes when I got tapped on the shoulder.

"Daddy?" Rachael asked softly.  I opened one eye and looked at her.  "It's really cold in my room; can I snuggle with you and H'hsssatt?"  I lifted the covers and nodded.  Right after she crawled in with all of us, the squirming match started in the "find the warmest spot next to Daddy" competition.

"Settle down and no squirming, both of you, or it's back to your own beds." I said as softly as I could to not wake H'hsssmee.  That seemed to get them to stop.  I had just closed my eyes, again, when I felt movement behind me.  

"Can I sssnuggle with you alssso, My Love?" H'hsssmee asked very softly and gently rubbed her cheek against mine.

"Of course, Sweetheart." I replied and reached up to touch her face.

"Mommy, are you awake?" H'hsssatt suddenly asked.

"No." she replied.

"Then how're you talking if you're asleep?" Rachael asked.

"It isss a ssspecial ability that Mommiesss have.  Go back to sssleep, both of you."  H'hsssmee replied.

"Can Daddies learn this special ability?" I asked her softly several minutes after the kids had settled down.

"No, only Ssserpentine Mommiesss possssessss thisss ability.  Huuu-Mannn Daddiesss mussst anssswer all the childrensss early morning quessstionsss." she replied as she caressed my face and hugged me tightly.

"Not fair." I said in my very best pouty voice.

"Sssleep, Sssweetheart." she said putting a hand over my eyes and hugging me again.



H'hsssmee and I had been lovers for almost a year and, miraculously, had not been found out.  After our Rest and Recovery stint was done at Doppel-Magnum, the Cohort had been assigned to Garrison Duty at Cross Roads 7.  When we heard the next assignment would be back out into the Outer Fringe, we both knew it would be just about impossible for our relationship to remain a secret.

"Sergeant Commander Johns report to Captain M'Banga's office, on the double!" the loud speaker blared the next afternoon.  When I entered his office, H'hsssmee was with him.

"Captain H'hsssmee informs me she's going to resign her commission effective the end of the month.  When I asked her why, she said it was personal reasons.  You're the only personal reason I can think of, Sergeant Commander, so that's why you're in my office." he said.

"I did not tell him." H'hsssmee said to me, with a shocked look on her face.

"There's nothing for either of you to be afraid of, I'm not telling anybody anything about you two.  I've had my suspicions, since I saw you two flying that glider thing during R&R, that there was more to both of you than met the eye.  You know how the Legion feels about this sort of thing Johns, officer and enlisted being together, what plans have you made?" he asked.

"What plans, Cap'n?  Well this one for certain." I replied, turned to face H'hsssmee directly and dropped to one knee.  "I love you, H'hsssmee, will you do me the great honor of accepting and marry me?"

"I…I…your family will not object that you are not wissshing to marry a Huuu-Mannn?" she asked me with a stunned look.

"I don't have one; the Legion, and the Cap'n here, are the closest thing to a family I've ever had." I replied then looked at the Captain.  "You object if I marry H'hsssmee and not a human, Sir?"

"I have no objections at all, son." he replied smiling.

"Will you marry me, H'hsssmee?" I asked her again.

"Yesss, yesss I will." she replied and held out all her hands for me to take.  As I started to stand, the servos in my cyborg leg began clicking and I couldn't get up without her helping me.

"I don't like the sound of that, Sergeant Commander." the Captain said rubbing his chin with a very mischievous grin.  "You just might not be fit for combat duty anymore and that means a medical retirement."

The Old Dog was good to his word.  Within the month H'hsssmee had quietly resigned her commission and I was medically retired 'non-fit for combat duty', with the pension that came with it.  We had a beautiful wedding with the entire Cohort attending.  Captain M'Banga pulled a few strings getting us both civilian jobs at the R&R Center and a lift back to Doppel-Magnum as his wedding present.



We both had our suspicions as to why H'hsssmee never conceived, but we wanted them confirmed none the less.  After testing it was determined that our DNA was totally incompatible and we could never have children together.  H'hsssmee and I were both disappointed after we got the news and she didn't bring up children again for several months.  We still enjoyed a wonderful, loving relationship but I knew from the way she looked at families in town, children were never far from her thoughts.

I was sitting on cushions on the floor reading, one day, when she gently took the book from my hands and set it aside.  Coiling herself, she sat next to me, took my hands in her lower hands and cradled my face with her upper hands.

"If we cannot have children of our own, what do you think of adopting?" she asked.

"Adopting is a great idea, but I don't know what we have to do, though." I replied.  I had thought about adopting several times, but had no idea how she might feel about that possibility.  It was wonderful that we were both thinking along the same lines.

"I have already found out and have the paperwork for usss to regissster with the orphanage." she said.

"Just one of the reasons I love you so much, you think of these things long before I do." I said and kissed her.



Rachael came into our lives a few months later.  I got a call, from the orphanage, asking that H'hsssmee and I come by as soon as we got off work.  When we arrived, the director explained that she had been found at the front door to the facility that morning.  A note left with her said her name was Rachael and nothing more.  While an investigation was being conducted to find her natural parents or relatives, would we object to taking care of her in the interim?  We both fell in love with her the moment we were introduced.  It was a very one sided introduction, of course, she was only about 3 weeks old at the time.  Taking a month of 'parental leave' from the Center, we both had to get trained in how to handle a baby.  H'hsssmee had a rough idea of what to do to take care of a human baby, from taking care of her younger siblings growing up, and caught on very quickly.  As for me, I'm a combat troop; I was completely in the dark and had to learn everything.  

The month flew by and we found ourselves in the last night before we had to return to work.  I had just finished getting Rachael to bed and sat down with H'hsssmee.

"Sssweetheart, would you object if I did not return to work?  Even for the day, I do not wisssh to leave R'rachael." she said.

"No, not at all, I think that's a great idea.  Instead of resigning though, why not ask if you can take a leave of absence and return when Rachael is old enough to go to school?  I still have my work and the pension, we'll do fine." I said.  The Center had no objects and even said if we needed anything to let them know.

Two months later the investigation found no trace of any natural parents or relatives of Rachael's and we signed formal adoption papers shortly thereafter.  H'hsssmee and I were the proudest parents on Doppel-Magnum!  

Time marched on with all the wonderful moments of raising a child.  Rachael never once questioned as to why her mother was Serpentine and her father human as she got older.  To her we were loving, caring parents and that was just fine.  A week before her 4th birthday, when we asked her what she might want, she made an interesting request.

"Well, can I have a baby brother or sister and a chair?" she asked with the most sincere deadpan I'd ever seen.

"We are ssstill regissstered with the orphanage, ssso you might get your wisssh for a brother or sssissster one day.  Why do you wisssh a chair, you do not like to sssit on the floor?" H'hsssmee asked her.

"I like to sit on the floor with you and Daddy.  It's nice to snuggle and cuddle and wrestle on the cushions, a chair would be nice when I look out the window on rainy days." she replied.  The chair wish was granted that birthday, her wish for a brother or sister didn't take much longer.



We were out flying kites, one weekend, when a Legion cargo hauler came flying over the beach towards us.  As soon as it grounded, before the driver could cut power to the hover fans, the cab door opened.

"Mrs. Johns?" a Sergeant Major asked stepping out of the cab.

"Yesss, Sssergeant Major, I am ssshe.  May I help you?" H'hsssmee asked.

"Sergeant Major Basheesh, Ma'am, and yes you can.  The Hospital Commander is requesting your assistance with a patient that'll be delivered by shuttle from the merchant vessel in orbit right now." he replied.

"My assssissstance?  I wasss not medical when I wasss in the Legion, Sssergeant Major, how would I be able to help?" she asked him.

"The patient is a Serpentine infant and we're hoping you can help.  You're the only Serpentine we know of within 3 parsecs of here, and we're stymied, Ma'am.  We just don't know what to do for him." he said.

"My husssband and daughter may accompany me?" she asked.

"Of course, yes, of course." he replied.

"Shuttle touch down in 5 minutes, Sergeant Major!" the driver yelled from the cab.

"Roger that, Mr. G'Tak, drop the gate!  This way, please.  I'm sorry for the rudeness of your transportation, Ma'am, the cargo hauler was the only thing we have large enough to accommodate you." the Sergeant Major replied, with a hint of embarrassment in his voice as the tail gate lowered on the hauler.  

"There isss no need to apologize, Sssergeant Major, the necessssity isss more important." H'hsssmee replied smiling as she coiled herself on the cargo deck.

We arrived at the hospital a few minutes after the shuttle touched down.  The medical staff met H'hsssmee at the door and started briefing her as they went toward one of the Intensive Care Unit exam rooms.  Rachael and I were just a few steps behind when the Sergeant Major tapped me on the shoulder.

"The Commander would like to speak with you, Sir." he said.

"Can I go with Mommy?" Rachael asked me.

"Of course you can." replied the Hospital Commander who had stepped up at that moment.  "Sergeant Major Basheesh will take you there right now.  Commander Zoe, Mr. Johns, I wish we could have met under better circumstances."

"It's still nice to meet you, Commander." I replied shaking her hand.  "The Sergeant Major said the patient is a Serpentine infant, what happened?"

"If I may, Commander, I'll be able to update you and fill Mr. Johns in at the same time." said an individual in merchant marine uniform.

"Please do." replied the Commander.

"First Officer Natsumi, Star Vessel Connecticut, a pleasure Sir." he said extending his hand.  "Two days ago we picked up a distress beacon and dropped out of Hyperspace to investigate.  We found an escape pod, with no registration number, ships name or data plate on it.  Sensors indicated a single life form inside the pod.  After we got it into the hangar bay, we discovered an infant Serpentine male was the occupant.  He was strapped in with basic life support set, which indicates there had to have been an adult involved somewhere.  We ran a scanner sweep to our maximum range of 2 parsecs and detected nothing.  No wreckage or vessel of any sort was found.  It's a complete mystery as to where the pod might have come from.  Medically, he was in extreme distress and Ships Medical Officer did everything he could for him.  Doppel-Magnum being the only military facility within close range, we hopped back into Hyperspace and got here as quickly as possible.  We radioed the moment we dropped into normal space, and brought the child down when we made orbit.  We decided Fate was smiling on the little guy when we found out your good lady lived planet side."

"Excuse me, Mr. Johns?" interjected Sergeant Major Basheesh.  "Mrs. Johns would…"

"DADDY!  Mommy wants to talk to you!" Rachael yelled from the exam room door.

"Ah, that Sir." he replied, grinning, as he pointed over his shoulder.

"Please excuse me, everyone, I have been summoned." I said grinning myself.

"Daddy, he's really cute, he looks like a little doll." Rachael said as I approached the doorway, then her mood darkened.  "Mommy said he's really sick."  Rachael was right he was a very cute infant.  At 50 odd centimeters he did look like a doll, a very fragile doll.  I could see his ribs in both his upper and lower body; his weight couldn't have been more than 3 kilos.  His skin coloration would have been white with ocher splotches.  He was so pale; I almost couldn't see the ocher.

"He isss deathly ill. He would have not sssurvived another day if he wasss not found when he wasss." H'hsssmee said with an edge of anguish in her voice.  "He isss well-guarded here, but I do not want to leave him."

"We can stay as long as you want, Sweetheart." I said and hugged her tightly.  "Let me talk with the hospital people about that."  Commander Zoe said H'hsssmee could stay in the room for as long as she felt she was needed.  She'd already proven to be an enormous help explaining what a Serpentine infant ate.  If Rachael wanted to stay, as soon as he was stable enough to move to the Pediatric Ward, they'd move an extra bed into the room for her.

Rachael was a bit put out that she couldn't spend the night with Mommy, but the ride back to the house in the cab of the cargo hauler made up for it a bit.  The driver said he'd pick us up in the morning, if we wanted.  Rachael had a thousand and one questions for me about the infant and how he was doing.  Sometime during the night, she crawled into bed with me, crying.  She was worried he wasn't going to get better.  I tried to reassure her that he would.  I convinced her but not myself.  

The next morning she was up before the sun and ready to go a few minutes later.  As we were about to head out the door, with things for H'hsssmee, Rachael came out of her room with a stuffed backpack.

"Whatcha got there, Honey?" I asked her.

"Stuff." she replied.

"Oh, like what?" I asked.

"Just stuff." she replied and smiled.

When we arrived at the hospital, he looked better than he had the night before.  He even looked like he might have gained a tiny bit of weight.  I also found out what the 'stuff' was Rachael had with her.  She took her favorite doll out of the pack and placed it in the crib with the infant.

"He can play with her when he gets better." she said.

Both H'hsssmee and I looked at our daughter and were deeply touched by her kindness.

"He does look a lot better, Sweetheart." I said to H'hsssmee.

"He isss feed every 2 hoursss now, he ssshould be gaining sssome weight." she replied and looked very tired.

"Why don't you go home and get a little sleep, Sweetheart?  Rachael and I can stay with him." I said.

"Yesss, I will." she said.

"Anything special I need to know?" I asked.

"No.  It isss no different to feed H'hsssatt then it wasss to feed R'rachael at that age." she replied almost dozing off as she talked to me.

"H'hsssatt?" I asked.

"Yesss, I have named him H'hsssatt, I hope you do not object.  It meansss 'Blessssing of Heaven' in Ssserpentine." she said and hugged me tightly.

"No, it's a beautiful name and fits him perfectly." I said as Rachael and I walked her out the door of the hospital to her ride back to the house.

H'hsssatt lived up to his name.  He was out of the ICU in a week and released from the hospital a month later.  A formal Naval Board of Inquiry investigation turned up nothing on what ship his escape pod had been jettisoned from.  A year after the investigation started, the incident was summed up as 'Lost in Hyperspace' and closed.  H'hsssatt had stayed with us the entire time and we applied for formal adoption the same day the investigation closed.  Rachael had gotten her wish for a baby brother; he was just a little late arriving home.