Family Gathering

Posted on Fri Jan 30th, 2009 @ 3:55am by

Mission: Dark Discoveries
Location: Earth
Timeline: Current

Elizabeth looked around at her family. It was their last time together as a complete family unit; Amy was returning to the USS Kennedy, Katy, Ashley, and Henry’s families were going their separate ways, that rogue Andrew would be back to roaming the galaxy, and now Elizabeth would be accompanying the USS Iapetus as a civilian observer. Needless to say, Sara was not invited to the going-away party; even now, it angered Elizabeth that Sara had been so careless. Shaking off the stray thoughts, Elizabeth turned her attention to the man now standing at the front of the hall.

“And now, let us raise a toast,” Andrew announced, raising his glass. “To my mother and good luck to her future travels.” Glasses were raised, and Andrew grinned at Elizabeth, who just shook her head in exasperation. She was not comfortable with all this useless attention on her. Fortunately, she only had to endure it for a short while, for the party guests began to spread out and mingle freely, and Elizabeth went to speak to her son.

“Still running around the galaxy, are you?” she asked with a small smile. Though she’d never express this publicly, Andrew was her favorite among the entire family. Unlike most of the others, Andrew was actually doing something with his life – though young Amy did show promise.

“Usually I fly in a ship, mother,” Andrew replied. “You know how tiring running can get without any friction to get you moving.” He grinned mischievously and danced back out of the way as Elizabeth swatted at him.

“You never did grow up,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. “It’s probably a good thing you didn’t have any kids. Then again, there’s still time…” But Andrew was already shaking his head.

“I know how much you want to make your family even bigger, mother, but I’m good just the way I am,” he said. “Freedom lies in unattachment.”

Suddenly, his gaze flicked over Elizabeth’s shoulder, and she thought she saw another glimmer of mischievousness in them. “Andrew,” she began warningly, turning slightly. What she saw stopped her cold – Sara was standing in the doorway, every eye drawn to her and her five-year-old daughter. “Andrew!” Elizabeth exclaimed, spinning back towards her son, who regarded her calmly. “Did you do this?”

“What, invite my niece to a family gathering that she should be a part of?” Andrew asked rhetorically. “Of course. You have no right to exclude her.” His face was now set; this was one of the most irritating things about Andrew – he didn’t give a darn about others’ rules when he wanted to do something.

“No right?” Elizabeth hissed. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the head of this family. She’s the one who has no right to be here – she disgraced the family!”

“You’re making a scene, mother,” Andrew said quietly; indeed, many eyes were now looking towards them. “Welcome your great-granddaughter, at least, even if you refuse to acknowledge your granddaughter’s because of her mistakes.”

Closing her eyes, Elizabeth counted to ten before turning back towards the door where Sara, Troy, and Lizzy waited anxiously. “Come in, my dears,” Elizabeth said warmly, studiously avoiding Sara’s gaze. As if on cue, the murmur of conversation began again in the hall as the guests realized that Sara was at least accepted into the hall. Before the girl could reach Elizabeth, however, Elizabeth had quickly made her way to a door and vanished.