...And Into the Light (Part 2) [Leela Kaz/Zero Alpha]

Leela chuckled. "Yeah, you probably don't want to run around the ship in that?" She took a step towards Zero and extended her arms. "Here, Zero, I'll hold her. You can go change."

Although she looked extremely reluctant to do so, Zero handed Callion over to Leela, touching the baby's cheek for a brief second before she bolted into the bedroom of her quarters, swapping her leotard, skirt and pointe shoes for her uniform and boots. She almost ran back, taking her daughter back from the Trill, holding the baby close. It wasn't that she didn't trust the Trill, but... actually, it was that she didn't trust the Trill in general, let alone with a child that she had already lost once to Starfleet Medical and had to steal back.

Leela coddled an infant. Preta's memories were still close to the surface. She remembered holding her own child in such a manner. Everything was so vivid. She closed her eyes as if she was reliving the memory. When Zero came back from her room, Leela slowly passed the child back to her mother. "Here you go."

Zero took the baby back into her arms, brushing a thin lock of fluffy white hair from Callion's bright green eyes.  Her other mother's eyes.  And the delicate ridges and ears.  

"She is exquisite," she murmured, more to herself than to Leela.  Then, almost as if she had just realised that the Trill was still standing there, she said:  "Shall we go?"

Leela chuckled as the new mom seemed to forget that she was in the room. She had never heard Zero speak with so much sincerity and passion. It was quite a pleasant change of pace.

"I'm ready if you are. Baby essentials await us, my friend." Leela made a grand gesture towards the door of Zero's quarters.

Although she considered arguing the use of the word 'friend', Zero decided to keep that to herself. There was no point in starting an argument now. Instead, she simply nodded to the Trill and headed out of her quarters.

The replicator bay was, thankfully, quiet when the two young officers and the baby arrived. Zero was quietly relieved by this fact. She wasn't sure that she was ready to reveal Callion to the rest of the crew. At some point ,she knew that she was going to have to take her to sickbay and just make sure that everything was all right. A second opinion, especially since Callion was a month premature, would be important.

Staring at the console in front of her, the young Augment realised that she had very little idea what a baby really needed. That had always been Jiseth's domain and expertise.

"Where must we begin?"

Leela stood next to Zero and the infant in the center of the replicator bay. At the bay next to them a small child was getting a new stuffed animal with her parents assistance. As she watched the interaction between parent and child she couldn't help but to see Zero in the role. She was hopeful that she would grow into her latest title, that of parent.

"Well, I guess you will need to pick out a crib for Callion." Leela pulled up the plethora of options and honed in on a beautiful, but simple, white crib. It was constructed from wood and designed to look slightly antique. "What about this one, Zero? Its so cute!"

Zero looked at the slowly turning image on the console screen, frowning slightly. It had aesthetic appeal, that was certain, but she was unsure as to its practicability. On the other hand, it was a place for Callion to sleep and little more.

"The structure and form is appealing," she replied, her head tilted to one side with a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Shifting Callion into a slightly different position, she freed up one hand to tap a few keys on the console, changing the colour from white to a deep mahogany colour. "Perhaps this colour would be better?"

Leela turned to Zero and Callion and smiled. "It's perfect. I'll have it delivered to your quarters." She tapped a few commands on the console to have the item transported to Zero's quarters. "How about a mobile?" As she spoke she pooled up several options. "They are designed to hang above the crib to give the child something to focus on. It's a traditional item that appears in several cultures throughout the galaxy." She pointed to the screen. "This is cute, little Starfleet ships. How adorable!"

"A mobile?" Zero asked, confused for a moment before she saw the image on the console screen. "Indeed. It is important for an infant of Callion's age to learn focus. She will require many different distractive elements to provide her with multiple targets for her focus, especially if she has inherited my intelligence." She tilted her head to one side as she looked at the one Leela had picked out, making a few adjustments on the console. A couple of the starfleet ships were replaced with warbirds. "Even if she is not present, I wish Callion to know her other heritage as well as mine."

With the mobile also sent to her quarters, a faint pink flush crossed Zero's cheeks. "I believe that it is also customary for human children to be given illogical amounts of inaccurate representations of animals made of fabric and filled with a squashable substance."

Leela chuckled. She tried not to let it show just how funny she thought her long winded description of a stuffed animal. "You mean a stuffed animal?" She continued laughing as she calmed herself enough to speak more. She could no longer contain her amusement and the laugh grew slightly more raucous. "While you description is very accurate, stuffed animal will suffice."

Zero scowled at the Trill, a little offended by the fact that Leela found her lack of knowledge about these 'stuffed animals' so amusing. She had never been permitted toys in her youth. In fact, the first toy she had been given had been one of Vulcan origin designed to teach logic and problem solving from the youngest of ages.

"My apologies for not utilising the correct term," she muttered, turning back to the console and scrolling through animals from various planets and cultures.

It didn't take Leela long to realize that she had offended her friend. She quickly tried to back pedal the comments and save face. "Zero, come on. I didn't mean anything by it. I just thought it was funny, it was just the way you said it. You know I respect you and have demonstrated my friendship on several different occasions. You can't take things so personally." She paused and looked to the screen and saw a stuffed animal portraying the fictional character Flodder. "What about him? He's cute? Maybe a little creepy... but cute?"

Deciding that the best course of action was to pretend that the misunderstanding simply hadn't happened, Zero looked at the image of one of these 'stuffed animals' that Leela had pointed out. Her pale brows came together as she frowned.

"I am not familiar with this species," she replied, flicking past it until she found a pale gold teddy bear. "I believe this is a classic model for young children?"

"Yes, you're right." Leela pointed to the screen. "He is a fictional character from a holographic series for children. He is extremely popular. I believe this would make a perfect toy."

The scowl deepened slightly as she listened to Leela's explanation of who this Flotter was and found it lacking. "No, I do not intend Callion to be confused by fictional and non-fictional elements at this early stage of her life. As inaccurate as these other animals are, they are still far closer to reality than this... thing."

It would also seem that Zero didn't know when to stop when it came to the stuffed animals. Before long, Callion was the proud owner of fifteen new toys, each of which was a different species, including one that looked suspiciously like Ghost.

"Perhaps... Perhaps that is sufficient?"

Leela chuckled. The sight of watching Zero replicate toy after toy was awe inspiring. She had never seen so many toys for a newborn. Deep down Leela knew that Zero's zealous replication of toys was likely a manifestation of her own lost childhood. She just wanted Carillon to have all of the experiences that she was deprived.

"I think that's sufficient." She brushed her hand along the side of her head, trying to think of what else they may need. "Do you have a safe place for her to lay during waking hours, maybe a playpen or a small rocker? Or both? Kids are so odd, they will quickly develop their own preferences."

Once the toys had also been transported to her quarters, Zero turned to look at Leela with a slightly confused look on her face. "Why would it be necessary for Callion to remain in an enclosure while awake? Would she not resent me for such a thing? For imprisoning her?" The expression of confusion had rapidly turned into one of fear at the thought of doing something like that to Callion, too reminded of her own incarcerations.

"No no, it's not omprisonment." Leela had a flash of the memories of the box and understood all too well why she would believe that Callion would resent her. "You put her in there with her toys. It gives her a safe place to play and nap.... Unless you prepared to keep both eyes on her every moment of every day. It's just not possible."

Zero still didn't look entirely convinced by Leela's explanation. The playpens that the console was showing her all looked so small and confined and she couldn't help but think back to her own infant days. There hadn't been many of them, since Kincaede had kept her in the maturation chamber far longer than Callion, but there had still been time when she had needed to be left in a safe environment while Kincaede worked.

"Perhaps it would be best if I constructed one. None of these patterns are appealing and I believe an adequate area could be fabricated using forcefield generators," she replied reluctantly. "It would be larger than these models, but still serve the same purpose."

"If you think that's what is best for you and Callion." Leela stepped away from the console. She remembered her hopes and fears with her own children. "The thing is, when it comes to parenting..." She paused as she constructed her statement. When it came to Zero, word choice mattered. This was something Leela was coming to realize with each passing interaction. "... There isn't a right way or a wrong way of doing it, despite what others will insist. Everyone thinks that their way is the only proper way to raise a child. And it simply isn't true. The right way, is the way that works best for you. Sure you'll make mistakes." She gestured dismissively. "But you'll learn form them and you will be an even better parent because of them." Leela stepped back to the console and examines the play pin on the screen. "If you don't think this is appropriate for your child, then it isn't appropriate. I applaud your choice to create your own alternative."

Zero listened carefully to what Leela had to say as she continued to look through the proposed models on the console screen, but still couldn't bring herself to pick one out for Callion. Putting one together herself seemed like a better and better alternative the longer she thought about it.

"I attempted to research appropriate parenting behaviours, but many of the texts I studied conflicted with each other. Not only that, but many advocated extremes of behaviour I would not be comfortable inflicting on Callion." She looked down at the baby in her arms as the tiny humanoid stirred, starting to mewl and instinctively paw at Zero's chest in search of nourishment. Zero looked up at Leela with a scared and distraught expression, knowing that she as unable to provide such nourishment naturally for her child.

"Zero, you want my advice on parenting advice?" Leela paused but then decided not to await an answer. For fear that she would say no. "Don't listen to any of it... There is no right way or wrong way to do it. Its all about the way that feels right for you."

What Leela was saying did make sense, but Zero couldn't help but think that she didn't have enough experience of parenting or being parented to know what felt right. Her more pressing concern, however, was trying not to jostle the baby in her arms as she tried to find the bottle of milk in the shoulder bag she was carrying, growing more concerned at the increasing volume of Callion's mewling.

Leela smiled as she watched the interaction between Zero and the infant. She reached into Zero's bag and located the bottle that Zero had packed. She handed the bottle to the augment. "Here you go, Zero."