First Day, First Order (Open to FO)

[Natasi Fortan]

"Good morning, Ryssa," Natasi said with a tight smile. She knew better than to expect a familial kiss from her middle cousin; a restrained wave was more than she would have expected, she called that a victory. "Thank you for helping your sister get ready." She watched as Ariel came down the steps and then shook her head. "Oh no, darling, those shoes simply don't go," she said, her tone mock stern. "The ones Ryssa has are much better. Almost like mine, see?" She stuck one foot out, showing off the polished patent leather of her high heeled shoe.

Another glance at her watch. "All right, ladies," she said firmly. "We need to be on the road in five minutes, so whatever else you need -- bathroom, breakfast, brushed teeth -- you'd better get going or we'll be late. And a Fortan is never late. Nor, if your mother is any indication, is a Yvarro." Natasi turned back to Uncle Josef and offered an apologetic smile. "Of course I do see that it can be hectic, but I'm dying to start one of my own." She looked down, a hint of regret in her face as she idly adjusted the barrette in Ariel's hair.

"If you ever need a few hours of your own time, or even a night, I'll be happy to take them. It's no trouble."

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Of course, a simple HoloNet search for “Contractions” had supplied Marzena and Jean Paul with a wealth of information. As they filtered through the results, the comments and stories that detailed the worst case scenarios caught their eyes. This certainly caused Marzena to bypass all reason, and come to the conclusion that there was something terribly amiss.

“Do you think this is pre-term labor?” Jean Paul asked, his blue eyes wide. “Your water didn’t break, did it?”

Marzena shook her head, but Jean Paul lifted the hem of the wedding dress, just to be sure. Quickly, she grabbed up her clothing and disappeared around the corner. Her hands were now shaking, but she did her best to be careful about removing the delicate dress. Once she was decent, she continued to gather her belongings and made for the door.

“I-I think I should go to the medical center, right away.” She said, her hand pressed to the side of her stomach.

With a nod, Jean Paul put his coat on and offered the pop star his arm. He escorted her out to meet her driver, and leaned down to see inside the cab of her speeder.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sure it’s nothing… I’ll be fine.” Marzena tried to sound reassuring, and waved her friend away. “I’ll call you later.”

With that, she informed her driver of their new destination… the nearest medical center. The songstress closed her eyes; she could feel the baby kick every so often. That was a good sign. Maybe she was just overacting. Still, she couldn’t shake the possibility that something was wrong. She lifted her comm device from her bag; her finger hovered over the buttons. Should she inform the Supreme Commander? Marzena shook her head, and set the comm back into her purse. No, not yet. She did not want to make him worry needlessly.

When her speeder parked, she wrapped a dark scarf around her hair and placed her glasses back on, an effort to conceal her identity for the time being. Her heels clicked quickly against the ground as she made her way inside and to the front desk to check in.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Ryssa barely shrugged her shoulders, she figured Natasi could stuff whatever bright and cheery cup of joy right where she found it. The eleven year old did not want to change schools, she did not want to go to school and deal with a whole new class of brats. Nor did she enjoy the sight of her father suddenly taking care of her mother, her mother could very well take care of herself. So what if she was getting forgetful, people forget things all the time. Sure as feth didn't need no stinkin' babysitter. Maybe she was angry, a lot. Ok she was more than angry with the world, her mother was losing it, her dad was overstressed and suddenly here was this cousin of hers that she apparently always had, but just found out about? She just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

"Pretty!" Ariel was delighted, Ryssa was glad that her sister was too young to understand any of this. She was quick to swap out the shoes and just motioned to the door. The toddler meanwhile went to wrap herself around Natasi. The man of the house, Josef looked between the three of them just before Ryssa slipped out and gave a smile of approval.

"Ryssa, ain't ya gonna kiss yer old man goodbye?"

"Goodbye old man," Ryssa nonchalantly replied back with a cheeky grin, "fine."

Walking back to the door she gave her dad a hug and a kiss, walking back to the car she waited. Waited as Ariel gave their dad a hug and a kiss of her own. Ariel waited for their cousin Natasi to walk her to the car.

Josef gave Natasi a look of gratitude, "well yer still young, ya got time. Startin' a family ain't no easy deal, Balance knows I've learned that lesson by now and if yer aunt and I can start a family this late in our life. Well, ya got a chance, but thank you. I'll be sure to think on your offer, but you better get on, got a minute to spare. Just call if ya need anything."

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi smiled at Josef and again stood on her toes to kiss him on both cheeks. "Good point. Goodbye, Uncle Josef," said Natasi. "Ariel, say goodbye," said the Grand Moff as she scooped up the younger girl and held her close enough to hug and kiss her father and then they swept out the door and down the stairs. The guards opened the door to the limousine and Natasi waited for Ryssa to enter before she set Ariel inside on the bench, then took the opposite bench. The limousine pulled out into traffic and Natasi peered out into the cityscape for a few moments, looking somewhat anxious before she settled into the cushion.

"You two are rather lucky," said Natasi idly as the car wound its way through the streets. "D'you know, back on Galidran when your mother and I and my father came from, girls in our class weren't usually sent to school? My brother went to school, but I was educated by a governess at first, and then I went to finishing school and then to university. It was difficult to get into things when I went to real school -- lots of things to catch up on." She smiled over at Ryssa and Ariel. "You must take advantage of the opportunities on offer."

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

 

[Kuzo]

[member="Boo Chiyo"] 's hug took Irajah completely by surprise. She hugged him back, reflexively at first, then squeezed him gently, dropping her face to the top of his head for a moment. She let go when he did, watching him race up to the transport. Standing on tip-toe, she waited until she saw him sit, then waved at him with a smile. She waited until the bus pulled away, watching it head down the wide avenue.

Checking her chrono, she blinked, realized she needed to hurry if she didn't want to be late, and headed at a brisk pace down the sidewalk.

Arriving at the great domed building she had scouted out a few days ago, Irajah paused, looking up at the Central Civilian Medical Center- CCMC for short. There were satellite locations scattered around Avalonia (necessary for a city of this size), but this was their largest facility. Encompassing emergency medical care as well as long term and diagnostics, it also housed the medical school and a walk in clinic that served the non-emergency aspect of community health.

Heading briskly up the steps, the doors opened wide before her. She flashed her badge to the desk clerk, gave a nod and a smile to the duty nurse, and headed toward the clinic.

****

"Ready to dive right in?"

Irajah smiled and nodded. They'd taken a little bit to orient her and show her around, but most of the details had been covered during her walk through earlier in the week.

"One of our regular doctors is out, and one of his patients is here. I know you aren't an OB specialist, but can you take it?"

"Of course!" Irajah said. She checked the system quick, noting the room number, name ([member="Marzena Choi"]), and giving the chart a quick scan. No previous complications, everything seemed to be normal so far. But she wasn't scheduled to be in for another couple of weeks- which meant something was going on to make her nervous.

Irajah headed toward the room the woman was waiting in. Hopefully it was the normal first pregnancy jitters. But in case it wasn't-

She knocked, then opened the door with a friendly smile on her face.

"Good morning. My name is Doctor Ven. I'm sorry that your regular doctor can't see you today, but I'm here to help. What seems to be the problem?"

 

[Marzena Vaas]

The young woman stationed at the desk greeted Marzena with a polite smile, and began to confirm her personal information. Next, the receptionist ran through a quick triage list of symptoms. Based on Marzena’s answers, it was clear that she was not in an emergency situation. The pop star tapped her foot impatiently. She could have pulled the “do you know who I am?” card, but that would likely have accomplished very little, aside from drawing unwanted attention. But the thought had crossed her mind. After another moment of data entry, the receptionist offered Marzena an apologetic glance.

“Doctor Garey is out of the office today, but would you like me to schedule you an appointment for tomorrow morning?”

Marzena removed her sunglasses and leaned forward slightly.

“I would like to see someone now.” She replied, and added “Please.”

The receptionist motioned wordlessly towards the rows of seats in the waiting area. She turned away to prepare Marzena’s file, and to roll her eyes without being seen. Quick steps brought Marzena to the nearest chair, and she set her purse down atop her lap. Her hand disappeared into her bag for a moment and pulled out her datapad. Finely manicured fingers typed out a message to her assistant, a request to reschedule her remaining appointments for the day.

Luckily, it wasn’t long before a nurse called her name. She followed her back to the exam room, and patiently allowed the woman to take her vitals. So far, everything seemed fine, for the most part. The nurse had commented that her blood pressure was a bit high, but it was not overly concerning. It could have been nerves. Marzena forced a smile and nodded as the nurse informed her that a doctor would be in shortly.

She would have liked to see her OB specialist, she felt comfortable with him and he knew her history. Although, her case file was full of unremarkable test results and completely normal ultrasound images – but that was a good thing. Dark eyes shifted as the door opened, and she watched as [member="Irajah Ven"] entered the room.

“Thank you for seeing me, Doctor.” Marzena said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Well, I’ve been feeling this strange… tightening sensation around my stomach. It's only happened a couple of times, and it doesn't really hurt. But it is quite uncomfortable. I’m just worried that I’m having contractions, since I’m only twenty two weeks along.”

Marzena placed her hands on her knees, and tried to remain calm… but her nervous energy was palpable. She looked to Doctor Ven, searching for any hint of reassurance on the petite woman’s face.