Hawkins Household, Primoor, Oru-Kosm system

  September 27th, 2506

  A week had passed since Hawk, Voyager, and Grim arrived at Primoor for their shore leave. To say that that their families were overjoyed to see them again was an understatement. Hawk’s and Voyager’s siblings hugged them tighter than they ever had been. Even Maya looked better than the last time her younger sister talked to her. Going off alcohol and drugs were perilous at first for Maya, but she pushed through with support of her family and those rehab sessions.

  Even Voyager’s family, the Al-Hashmi, paid a visit to the Hawkins Household. Since the marriage of Hawk and Voyager around 7 years ago, both families have connected well with each other. Hawk was delighted to reunite and hug her sister-in-law, Reem. And best friend since high school.

  But what delighted Hawk most is reuniting with her son, David. He recently reached 4 years old, and already looking more handsome than the last time she saw him. Grim herself came over with a half-mask, which gave David and the other kids a good scare.

  The Hawkins Household was a 4-story villa overlooking the beach where it met a large Mall far in front. Only kilometers away from Hayeri, Primoor’s capitol city. Once belonged to a Sector Commander of Special Tactics Recon it was gifted to William Hawk and his family after his retirement in 2492.

  Primoor was the third planet in Oru-Kosm system, known for its twin suns that appears at dawn from the east and disappears at evening from the west. Primoor itself shared similarities to old Earth, in terms of its ecology. Not just in grasslands, but also mountains, deserts, and plains across the whole planet.

  Logan and Allison were playing with David in the courtyard, while River was reading a book in the lounge, trying to not be overwhelmed from loud noises. The twins Alexis and Kyle were playing video games in their rooms. Hawk, Voyager, and Grim were conversing with their parents and in-laws including Maya in the living, save for one person in particular.

  “Hey, where’s the old man? He’s usually here with us” Hawk asked, as she did not see him among the crowd. The mood died down a bit, with shifting eyes and looks of concern.

  “Is he…” Voyager’s question was answered by the shaking heads from their in-laws.

  “Does it have to do with Eridani?” Grim asked, while she looked down. Maya put her hand on Grim’s lap. “No, sweetie. And for what it is worth, we don’t blame you.” The nods from Hawk’s mother, Erika, Maya, and Voyager’s parents were more than enough to confirm the sentiment.

  A few days ago, Hawk’s parents and oldest siblings were the only ones who were privy over what happened in that harrowing battle, thanks to an unexpected visit from FDA officers. Likewise, Voyager’s parents were also the only people in the family to know this information. Reem was a Navy officer in the FDA and currently on leave, so she already knew ahead of time.

  Erika’s eyes shifted to sadness, and looked upset when her eyes met at her middle child. “William… He…”

  Her sobs prevented her to continue, while Maya comforted her. “Kate… Dad tried to kill himself, two weeks ago.” It was all Maya said, as she then shifted her eyes elsewhere.

  Hawk’s body language contorted from the shock. Then, dark clouds of regrets and sorrow came over her head. Right now, her thoughts concluded that it was her fault. That she had a part in causing her dad to try to end his life like that. Over something that happened six years ago.

  “Where is he?” That was all she asked.

  “Kate, please…” Maya pleaded with her younger sister, but Hawk shook her head.

  “It’s my fault that I put him in this place in the first place, Maya. Where is he?! Please at” Hawk’s eyes was stinging with tears, while Voyager and Grim

  “Katherine, my joy.” Hawk’s mother shifted her eyes. “It’s not your fault. He’s been battling his demons for a long time.”

  “Yes, it was!” Hawk snapped, tears streamed down. “I shouldn’t have been angry at him over Anya. I shouldn’t have disowned him. I shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have…”

  Hawk burst her tears out, then sobbed. Voyager came closer to his wife, and hugged her tightly. Grim came closer as well, comforting Hawk, her eyes twisted to sadness.

  “Hey, what’s going on here… Oh.” When River came in from upstairs to see the commotion, he saw Hawk crying, and the family were comforting her. It didn’t take long for him to conclude over what was it about.

  For a moment, he thought about the nightmares he had in the year since the Dalto Massacre. The anxiety. The panic attacks that wrapped him tight.

  Hawk was his anchor throughout. She comforted him, helped him take things step by steps. Find viable means to cope with his trauma.

  Of course, he had difficulty adjusting to life after she shipped out to her enlistment. But as he remembered the lessons, River kept forward with his coping methods, which helped him in handling heavy topics or arguments with the family.

  In many ways, Kate was his savior.

  River kept a cool face, and moved forward to the living room.

  “River, you don’t have to be here.” Maya pleaded him, but he shook his head.

  “She’s been there for me before, Maya. It’s time to be here for her.” River countered and sat on a knee just besides his sister, while her husband made room.

  “Kate… Kate. Can you look at me?” River plea convinced Hawk and she shifted her face to her younger brother. Her face was red, her tears were still streaming

  “He’s okay. Dad is okay. I know it’s heartbreaking. It was all for us. But he’s alive. With us.” River talked to her gently.

  Hawk sniffed, then asked. “Where is he now?”

  River gave a slight smile “He’s in the garden, not from the entrance, tending to the flowers. You can visit him there.”

  Hawk licked her lips, and got up from her seat. “Okay, okay. I’ll see him now.”

  “Mama!” Hawk felt her legs hugged by the tight embrace of her son, David. After she wiped her tears , she saw Logan and Alison who were looking at her sadly.

  She wanted to see her father. She wanted to talk to him, even after 6 years of silent treatment. But in the meantime, she went down in knee, and hugged David tightly. She let go, and looked at him with a smile.

  “Are you gonna be okay, Mama?” David asked her.

  “Not right now, sweetheart. I need to talk to your papa. Can you be a good boy for Dada, Davey?”

  “Yes, mama.” David answered as he ran towards his dad. Voyager lifted him up with smile and joy. This father and son moment gave her a momentarily joy.

  “Can I…” Hawk then shifted her eyes to her mom. “Mom, can I see Dad?”

  Hawk’s question made her mother chuff in amusement. “You’re twenty-seven, Kate. You don’t need my permission. Although…”

  “I’ll take her to him..” Logan chimed in, then gestured her to come along.

  When Hawk followed Logan, she got curious. “So… how’s art career going?”

  Logan sighed “Terrible. Pay is shit, the publishers refused my pitch, and I had to take an administrator job by last month to get by.”

  Hawk shifted her eyes down. “I’m… sorry.”

  Logan exhaled “Don’t worry about it, Katie. Life isn’t always a linear path. I should’ve made a backup plan in the first place.”

  The two siblings stopped just outside the house door. As Logan pointed his hand, Hawk saw her father in white tank-top, khaki pants, and a straw-hat tending to the gardens.

  “You sure of this?” Logan shifted to his younger sister.

  “I have to, Logan. I don’t want my final moments with Dad to be of hate.”

  Logan shifted his face momentarily, then looked back. “Yeah, you’re far from retirement and you’ll be back to duty in a week. For what it’s worth…”

  Hawk felt the tight hug from her oldest brother, and welcomed it.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “We missed you, Katie.” Logan whispered.

  Hawk chuckled and whispered to her brother. “You too, Logie.”

  She couldn’t see it, but she could tell that Logan was rolling his eyes. After letting go, Logan waved at her as he went back inside, and she waved back.

  Then, she shifted to talk to Dad. She took a deep breath, knowing that this conversation

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Hawkins Household, Primoor, Oru-Kosm System

  William Hawkins was shearing the grass that grew around the gardens. Since that attempt that almost took his life, he looked in doing chores that would distract his mind, to keep his dark thoughts at bay.

  He then heard footsteps and shouted. “Look, Logan. I already told you before, I can do this on my…” William was shocked when he shifted to see who was coming to him. His shear dropped from his hand. It was the sight that he least expected, but also hoped.

  “Dad?” His middle-daughter asked. The one who he loved the most. The one who he lied to her about Anya’s survival. The one who learned the truth after she passed selection in the STR. And the one who disowned him.

  “Katherine…” William breathed, and momentarily ran to her and hugged. Father and daughter, both separate for a long time, now reunited after 6 years of silent treatment. It was as it ever had been, comforting and familiar, even if their roles in life were reversed.

  “Katherine…” He hugged her tighter than she ever had before.

  “I missed you, Dad. I missed you so much.” Hawk’s voice was happy at this reunion.

  “I missed you two, sweetie.” Both father and daughter have let go, then looked at each other with smiles. He looked as exactly as Hawk remembered, except with few more greying. Brown skin, strong jawline, and hair as dark as black.

  “Dad, they told me…” Hawk stammered, then her father interrupted.

  “It’s okay…” William put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ve been battling these demons for a long time, my pride. I won’t let them win”

  Hawk nodded at him.

  “So…” William and his daughter walked together and took a seat at the stairway to the house door. “How about we make up for lost time?”

  Hawk smiled widely, with teeth bared. “We can do that.”

  Over the next several minutes, they’ve been talking over what’s been happening in the past six years. Of course, Hawk didn’t divulge details over her missions, for operational security, which was just fine with her old man. In the ensuing silence, came a moment of truth.

  “So…” William tried to find the right words.

  “You’re asking if you want to know why I came to talk to you?” His daughter asked, which he nodded.

  “Yes.” William rubbed his face, then his eyes looked at Hawk. “By ancestors, Kate. I accepted that you won’t talk to me anymore. Especially when you stopped taking my calls since 4 years ago. You have every right to be angry at me for lying to you about Anya. You still do now.”

  Hawk kept her eyes at the sky, then sighed. “Yeah. But then, after Eridani. I began to ask myself, is it worth it hold to this anger? Is it fair to hold a grudge for the rest of my life? I may not know everything about you, old man, but I knew you wouldn’t have kept Anya’s survival without a good reason.”

  “How’s Anya holding up?” William asked.

  “Last time I talked to her was before my departure from my ‘vacation’ to Tortsinan. We agreed to stay dark. No communication outside the planet.”

  William nodded at the answer. “Yeah. Figured that was the case, considering the message we got from her last year was encrypted.”

  William thought of something, then smile turned mischievous.“So, your vacation being playing a detective to try to get inside Empress Vollan?”

  Hawk’s face turned red to embarrassment. “Dad!”

  He chuckled and patted her on the back. “Don’t worry, I still have old contacts with STR. Especially Raptor and Pike.”

  Hawk’s smiled wistfully over her dad’s mention of Pike, callsign of Colonel Adriana Erckens.

  “Still looking up to her, I see.” William teased. Hawk chuckled and gestured her hands. “I can’t help it. She saved my ass back in ‘91.”

  “Yeah… I owe her a lot for this. So, about Eridani…”

  Hawk exhaled her breath, as she figured her old man was gonna bring it up, sooner or later. It’s a miracle she didn’t have a heated discussion with her family about it.

  “What do you think DoC is up to?” William’s question raised eyebrows from his daughter. Hawk anticipated their discussion being her decision to sacrifice Eridani, but Defectors of Corruption? That was an angle she has no clear answers on. She was gonna question him over his knowledge, but then remembered he still has inside contact within the organization.

  “Honestly? I have zero clue about their agenda. Given their involvement with Eridani, I figure they either to tear down the Dominion, plunge it to civil war and come out the victor. Then reform it.”

  “Hmm…” William was in thought. “I don’t know about reform, Kate. Seems to me they want to burn the Dominion to the ground. Why else did they smuggle that warhead to Eridani, considering its contested territory?”

  Hawk sighed, and rubbed her temple. “I have no idea. But let’s not talk about work right now.”

  Her eyes shifted to her father. “There’s something I want to say…”

  Her old man gestured her to continue.

  “Sooner or later, we’re all gonna pass to the Beyond, to be with our ancestors. And the last thing I want between us is your last moments ending in hatred at. I want to make amends, Dad. I want to start over. Be father and daughter, like we used to.:

  “Oh, Katherine…” William brought himself to hug his daughter, as her sentiment tugged his heart. When they let go, he looked at her “There’s no need for amends or starting over. You’re already in the family, in our tribe community. And that’s more than good enough for me.”

  Hawk’s thoughts then focused on Anya, with slim hope that she’d be welcomed in the family, and the tribe at some point.

  William figured that his daughter was currently focused on Anya. He licked his lips, then spoke. “As for Anya… When the time is right, help her leave the covert spy shit and never turn back. It will get her and her family killed, at some point.”

  Hawk nodded at her father’s advice. She too is aware of the dangerous world of being a covert agent, given the unit she was recruited to. She hoped Anya’s husband and their children don’t get caught in the cross

  “Just one last thing, Dad. How do I know if I’m ready to be a leader?” Her question brought William’s interest, given his leadership experience during his service.

  “You don’t, Kate. It’s all about a leap of faith. There will be missions that go smoothly. And there will be missions that derail to a complete shitshow. You’re gonna win some, and lose some. The most important thing you can do is to learn from your mistakes and steel the resolve to keep moving forward, so the people under your command can keep moving forward.”

  “Yeah…” Hawk’s eyes looked at the clear night sky, then her dad joined in taking on the sights, with only crickets making sounds for several minutes.

  “So… how long until you’re shipped to your next mission?” William inquiry interrupted the silence.

  Hawk chuckled, then answered. “In one week. I’ll be under command with Colonel Erckens.”

  William smiled, given his experience with Pike. He didn’t say anything more. He already knows she’s a fine STR Sector Commander and would do her duty in making sure the Rangers under her command to stay healthy, focused, and safe.

  “So…” William got up from the stairway and brought his hand to Hawk. “Let’s make this week to the best of it while we can.”

  Hawk smiled and brought her hand to her father, helping him climb up to the doorway leading to the house.

  While her duty awaits next week, she’ll make this one a very enjoyable time with the family.

  And hopefully, a journey of healing for her father against his inner demons.