Lt Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Labor and Delivery Unit] (October 17th)Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - LDU] (October 17th)
"I-jol au", were the last words she murmured already half asleep, snuggled up against Rayek.
The next two hours, Tess was fast asleep. So fast that she didn't hear Dennix entering the delivery room twice to check on the small family. The Denobulan registered that mother and child were getting some rest and he asked Rayek if Tess had managed to breastfeed the baby for a moment before sleeping. Satisfied with the answer Dennix smiled at the new Romulan father and since he was 'bound' to the bed he offered to get him anything he might need so Rayek wouldn't need to worry about waking Fvienn or Tess.
Since Tess should feed the newborn every two to three hours in the first 24 hours, when Dennix entered the room a third time, he walked over to Tess' side to wake her.
Tess' murmured 'I love you' in his native Rihanssu as she drifted off to sleep widened Rayek's already contented smile. He spent much of the first hour alternating his gaze between Tess and their son, Fvienn. It was only when the door to the room began to open that Rayek became aware of just how restricted in movement he actually was with the baby in his arms and Tess half curled atop him. He looked over sharply as a figure entered then relaxed a bit noting it was Dennix.
With his one free hand he gestured a finger to his lips to indicate to be silent yet gestured the man further in. He recognized that the doula was here to check on the health of Tess and the baby. They spoke in whispers. Rayek informing the doula how there had been a bit of difficulty encountered in getting the latch the first time.
When asked if there was anything he needed, Rayek indicated his PADD and the Denobulan brought it to Rayek who laid it out on his lap for getting updates on the Klingon situation later after the doula left.
The first thing Rayek did was to send out the pic of Fvienn to those he considered closest. His Vulcan 'brother' Solluk, his former love-interest who was still a dear friend even if it was awkward Saqa7, his counselors Beja and Miss Judy, Doc Vaughan and his former Captain Dylan Torngate.
The image was sent with a brief announcement of the baby's name - Fvienn ir'Katra tr'Lhoell - and the date and time of birth: Oct 17th 11:15 AM or Stardate 75793.06. In addition, Rayek requested that the image not be distributed widely. Those who knew him best would recognize it as an quirk of his paranoia - worried that the picture might fall into the 'wrong hand'.
It was exactly that reason that Rayek held off sending the same announcements to Hrafn and to Lek. Hrafn, instead received a message indicating that they should get together soon. He made no mention of the baby in the message however since he knew she was headed into Romulan territory. Informing Lek would be much more problematic.
Any signal he sent to the Discovery while it was in Romulan territory would have to go through Romulan subspace buoys which Rayek knew for a fact were monitored by Tal'Shiar. He couldn't risk his message being intercepted. Informing Lek would have to wait... unless maybe Hrafn would be willing to carry the message to him directly. There was still a risk that the message could be found, if she were held for some invented crimes and then searched but it was a much less likely scenario.
He would need to think on the idea more.
After sending out his messages, Rayek, read through the engineering updates on embassy build. Things were progressing there nicely. He then moved on to ship movements and that was where things got interesting. A fast approaching ship... that was recently identified as being Kurros from Thinkers Inc. Rayek tamped down on a spur of fear. Only Tess’ presence sleeping at his side and that of the baby in his arms kept Rayek in place. If Kurros was allowed to approach the station, there was much the Romulan needed to do to prepare.
Which Rayek did over the course of the next two hours. Rayek informed Solluk of his preparations and let him know that he was ‘on call’ should he be needed. Dennix’ third check-in and waking of Tess to feed the baby was timed almost perfectly for when the Thinker shuttle was due to arrive.
As Tess smiled up at him sleepily, Rayek dreaded having to tell her about the Thinker presence so near to home. So for the moment he kept quiet. He had his PADD’s notifications on silent being sent to his earbud so he’d know when Kurros arrived.
He had also tied his PADD into the security channels so that all comm activity among the security would filter through his PADD. The filter would ping his notification on anything mentioning, Thinkers, Kurros, Klingons, Tholias, Republic of Kahless, Embassy or any message flagged priority. He would be able to skim through all the mundane messages at a later time but for now Rayek was choosing to split his attention.
Woken instantly by the unfamiliar touch, Tess blinked her eyes open and the first thing her eyes were seeking was her baby, which she found still being held by her husband who had not moved from her side at all.
"Time to feed Fvienn", Dennix spoke softly. "How do you feel?"
"Tired", she admitted. "But I'm good." Tess sat up a little straighter and leaned close to Rayek to gaze at her son. Her heart clenched with happiness. "Did he sleep the whole time?", she asked Rayek, unable to keep the smile off her face. She would think that the tiniest noise of her newborn would have woken her, so she anticipated an affirmative. Her gaze then wandered from her son up to the face of her husband. "You can give him to me now, I have to feed him anyways", she said softly. While she was sure Rayek would not mind at all to hold his son the whole day, it must have become a little uncomfortable to remain in the same pose while making sure to hold the baby properly.
Taking Fvienn from Rayek, Tess' smile widened once more as she carefully positioned him for the next round of breastfeeding. "Hello my beautiful darling", Tess cooed as she took in the finest details of her baby's face.
Tess hesitated only briefly to feed her baby in front of Dennix but that hesitance lasted only briefly. He had seen other things from her and additionally to that he was a professional and she was a doctor herself, to feel shame was unnecessary.
Trying it for the second time to get Fvienn to latch on, with Dennix now present he was able to give some advice and there - she managed a little better this time. While Tess was nursing the little boy, Dennix cleared his throat quietly.
"The Romulan ladies still wait outside. And I believe they become a little impatient now." In fact, he had been asked by Karinne almost every time he walked by the small group when they would finally be allowed to enter. "It is your choice of course, but I feel like they wait for some feedback. Tess' and little Fvienn's well-being is most important, so if you don't feel like seeing them, I might send them away and tell them to come back later."
Tess looked up from Fvienn who was suckling peacefully in her arms. She glanced at Rayek to get an idea of his thoughts on the matter. She had already felt bad for having made them wait outside while they should have been in here with her during the labor and delivery. And she genuinely wanted to appreciate the Romulan tradition properly. "I feel good to see them now. They have waited long enough", she said with a hint of pity for them.
With Tess now awake, he watched her as she answered the Denobulan doula about how she felt. Her own question to him was answered with a nod.
”Yes, he slept straight through.”At her request, he carefully handed over the baby and then let Dennix instruct Tess on how to improve Fvienn’s latch. Rayek quietly observed in case it was something he might need to remind her about. The advice helped and soon Fvienn was nursing much more effectively as was evidenced by rather loud (for his size) grunting and gulping sounds the infant made while feeding. It was so adorable!
The topic of the Romulan women had Rayek grimacing. But knew that this was important to Tess. Well perhaps he had a solution for both this situation and his work.
”E’lev if Phara and the others will be here to assist you while doing the H’dl Aefvadh perhaps you will permit me to slip away briefly to attend some duties? If I stay, Karinne will be more sour than if I gave her time with just you women. Are you okay with that?”