Later Days {Star Trek Enterprise Fan Fiction}

Bread, Chapter 4

Leah watched the snow falling, and it began to get a bit more unpleasant, so she ducked under an eave. She flipped open her communicator again. "I'd like to see President Archer. It's Rabbi Benson."

The Vulcan aide replied, after checking something or other, "You may see him right away. He is in his office."

She thanked him and headed to Archer's office, a place she knew well. He stood up when he saw her. "What brings you here? I'd've thought, after the last few days, you'd be sick of all of us."

"Not quite yet," she smiled. "Sir, you know I married Diana Jones, right? She was on the NX-01, in the Science Department."

"I remember her not only from there, but also from the Cochrane. I think she may have been on Captain Reed's ship, too. How is she?"

"Uh, not so good."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do? I'm in touch with all sorts of doctors."

"I don't know. We – it's a kind of senility, or at least it seems that way," Leah sighed. "She's just slipping away. It's very hard to watch. You know how smart she, she was."

"Do you need to take time off? I don't think we'll be doing a big production like this again anytime soon," he offered.

"I think maybe I should leave entirely," Leah stated. "It's, well, I see her world shrinking. It seems only fair that mine should shrink, too."

"Take as much time as you need to," Jonathan suggested, "but you don't have to just up and quit."

"I, I don't know."

"You have been affiliated with Starfleet about as long as I have," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"And do you remember, we launched the NX-01, and there was the thought that, in deep space, people might need a little spiritual guidance."

"I imagine a part of that was to give Dr. Phlox a break as well," she opined, "I didn't have much to do for the first few years."

"That's right, I remember now," he agreed, "and then, after the Xindi probe hit Earth, we got four Jewish crew members. Three were fresh out of school, and the fourth was a little older, and he was commissioned as a Science Ensign. Do you recall their names?"

"I sure do," Leah confirmed, "They were Ethan Shapiro, Karin Bernstein, Josh Rosen and Andrew Miller. I recall a few long talks with Ethan, about Karin. I was so pleased when I learned they had decided to get married," she sighed. "It's a partnership, you know, and it can color every other piece of your life. But that runs both ways. And I'll tell you," Leah admitted, "it's so much harder when you can see and feel that partnership is crumbling."

President Archer thought for a moment, and then offered, "You can have someone help you, all right? And that person can do all of the traveling, and anything else that's too involved, or that you just plain don't want to do."

"I dunno."

"Stay, at least in an abbreviated capacity. Because there's one thing I know about caregiving – you may find you want to escape into work sometimes. My father suffered from Clarke's Disease. I was only a kid, but I could see how my mother's mood changed on the days she went to work. She never wanted to admit it, but I think she was somewhat relieved on those days."

"Diana's only going to get more and more dependent on me."

"Cross that bridge when you get to it. For right now, though, you're still independent. And, at least a little bit, so is Diana."