Destined | Christopher Pike

Chapter Twenty Eight

When Emma woke up the next morning, it was to a faint soreness between her thighs. Like always, the spot next to her where Chris had fallen asleep was empty. She had found him to be an early riser while she was most definitely not. She was the type of person to hit snooze ten times before she finally woke up. It drove Chris insane the few times she had slept in his bed an entire night. Since they were on leave, there was no annoying alarm to wake up to. Instead, the faint smell of breakfast filled her nose.

She rolled to her side to find a steaming plate of waffles waiting for her. She smiled to herself and sat up in the bed. Just like every morning, Chris was sitting at the table reading something. She pulled the sheet over her bare body and grabbed the plate next to her. "You know, I'm going to gain like thirty pounds if you keep cooking me delicious things everyday."

"Well, I enjoy cooking for others." He told her and brought his mug of coffee up to his lips. "Good morning, by the way."

"Good morning." She returned his words. She leaned down to grab his discard under shirt and pulled it on over herself before joining him at the table. She glanced his data pad that had various members of Starfleet on it. "Dare I ask?"

"This isn't classified. I need to find a new Chief Engineer before we leave. Although, I'm having a little trouble." He admitted.

Sadness filled Emma. Losing a crew member was never easy. Finding someone to fill the vacant position wasn't easy either. Finding a someone to replace Hemmer was going to be difficult. "Want me to help?"

"Be my guest." He said and pushed the data pad towards her.

Emma read through each file carefully. All of the candidates seemed like good choices. One, however stuck out to her in particular. She slid the data pad back to Chris. "What about him?"

"Montgomery Scott." Chris read his name aloud.

"He has several letters of recommendations. He was given the position of chief engineer when he was only an Ensign. Out of everyone on the list, he has the most experience. Looks like he's written several manuals for Starfleet too." Emma explained. He still didn't look fully convinced and she knew why. "Hemmer was...an amazing engineer. He was probably one of the hardest working crew members. This guy seems equally hard working. I think he would approve."

Chris smiled at her warmly. "When did you become so wise? I'll bring him in though."

Emma stabbed a piece of her waffle and prepared herself for her next words. She had no idea how he was going to react. "So, I had a thought."

"Okay..." he gave her the side eye. "And what would that be?"

"My parents, I think we should tell them about us."

That was certainly not what he was expecting her to say. He ran through different scenarios of them telling her parents about them dating. One of the scenarios ended up with him being stabbed by her mother. "Can I ask why?"

"I just...I can't really explain why. I mean, we are about to be gone for months again. Let's face it, rumors are going to start about the two of us soon. It's unavoidable. I'd rather they find out from us then some rumor. I only want to tell them if you want to though."

He nodded understandably. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well, my boyfriend just happens to be an amazing cook. What if we invited them to dinner here tonight?" She suggested.

"That's not a bad idea. It's hard to be in a bad mood after you've had a good meal." He said.

"Especially a meal cooked by you."