Destined | Christopher Pike

Chapter Forty Seven

The soreness had already began to settle into Emma's legs as she took a shower. She knew it would be sore, but not that sore. Riding for four hours straight probably wasn't the best idea, she had concluded to herself. Still, she was eager to ride more tomorrow. By the time they had returned back to the barn and unsaddled the horses it was close to two in the afternoon and they were both starving. They were also both too tired to cook anything, so Chris ordered a pizza while she took a shower.

When she came back downstairs she found Chris sitting on the couch with a box of pizza sitting on the coffee table. He had also started a fire. It wasn't terribly cold outside, but he knew how much she had enjoyed the fireplace since they had been home. It was much better than the artificial one inside their cabin.

"Feel better?" Chris asked as she pulled off a piece of pizza for herself before sitting down on the couch.

"Much. I'm a little sore though." She admitted to him and took a bite of the pizza. She couldn't help, but groan when she tasted it. She had not had a good, greasy pizza in almost a year. The food synthesizers were an amazing invention, but they didn't quite capture the homemade taste yet.

"Good?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Hell yes. I didn't realize how hungry I was until now. I'm definitely going to need a nap here soon." She answered.

"You can take a nap if you want. I'm just going to work on a few things."

"Work?" She questioned. "Chris, we're on leave. We are suppose to be relaxing."

"Well, I'm the Captain so I rarely have an off day. Besides, it's not anything tedious. I'm just approving new crew members." He told her.

For a while they sat in silence. Emma would watch whatever was on TV while Chris scrolled on his PADD. Occasionally she would glance at him and smile to herself. The idea of kids appeared in her head again. She could again imagine them piled up on the couch with a couple of kids while munching on popcorn and watching a movie.

"I want to tell you about my plan...if you could call it that." Emma spoke up.

"Okay..." Chris trailed off.

"Kids."

"Kids?" He asked.

"You know, tiny humans?"

"What about them?" He asked.

"What if, only if you want of course, after we finish our five year mission, we think about maybe having one or two or three?" She suggested. "I've just been thinking about it a lot for some reason. You would be an amazing dad and it would be cute to see you with some. I'm not saying right now. I want to get remain with Starfleet a little longer."

The question shook Chris to his core. It almost caused him to drop his PADD against the floor. Deep regret filled him. She wanted kids, but she had no idea what would happen in the future. They would never have kids, at least he wouldn't. He would be dead before they got the chance. He could feel his mouth going dry. He didn't want to ruin her hope, but he didn't want to give her hope either. He had to tell her. He had to tell her the truth.

"Do you believe that our future is set in stone?" Christopher asked.

"That's a...random question. I don't know what that has to do with my question. What do you mean? Like it's premeditated?"

"Yes." He rubbed his hands together nervously causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"I believe that we can alter our future slightly. Humans are prone to change, to growing. I don't see how that wouldn't affect our ability to change what happens to us." She paused noting the pale, panicked look on his face. She didn't realize the conversation of children would be so difficult for him.  "Is everything okay?"