Family Night In
Posted on Thu Nov 27th, 2025 @ 4:42pm by Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Edited on on Wed Dec 3rd, 2025 @ 10:49am
2,849 words; about a 14 minute read
Mission:
Episode 17 - Going Home
Location: St. Johns Newfoundland and Labrador, Earth
Timeline: MD024 1920 hrs
Neil grabbed a hold of Jayna’s hand just before the transporter kicked in and between eye blinks, transporter room two was gone, taken up by the mid-day sun filled sky above St. Johns Newfoundland and Labrador in the North-Eastern part of North America. Though the sun was out, there was a chill to the air and the smell of the ocean filled his nostrils at the first breath. The transport friendly hub they’d appeared at resembled an old fashioned bus-stop kiosk and he led Jayna out of the way as the lights in the pavement flashed at them with a not-so-subtle prompt to move along.
The hub was situated at St. Thomas’ Parish, where Kings Bridge Road met Military Road and Ordinance Street. Gower Street emptied into the intersection as well. The streets were all walk ways and set up for foot traffic and small delivery carts rather than the ancient motorized vehicles they’d been built to accommodate. The street names had remained.
Still holding Jayna’s hand, Neil just stood there for a minute.
Then he glanced at her and said, "You know. We can still bow out. Another ten minutes and you're kinda committed..."
"I'm already committed," she replied, smiling--although she was careful to mask her nervousness. Not many people would be happy to see a half-Vulcan intelligence officer on their doorstep. "I think I should be the one asking you if you're sure you want to bring me here." She was only half joking. She was committed to him and not about to change her mind, but she wasn't sure what his mother would think of her.
Neil blew air out of his lips, making a half-raspberry sound. "Pfffft," he said, "The people of St. John are a pretty open lot. All those years of fisherman along with the ancient military and naval garrisons had them fairly welcoming to newcomers, though there is an aspect of insularness still probably." Shrugging inside his coat, he continued "And they let Dad in. For as long as that lasted, so yeah. You need to see them."
They walked downhill along streets of brightly painted (none the same) townhouses, the light falling and street lights adding their efforts to add a golden white glow that didn't destroy the view. "I think the only bad part is we're here for just the evening. When I first mentioned shore leave to mom, she figured there would be a week to tormen...er get to know you." Neil grinned as his feet fell into a familiar pace and followed streets he'd half forgot.
"Torment, huh?" Jayna smiled at Neil. "So, what am I in for?"
They worked back up another street and Neil's limp returned slightly as the heavy night air continued to descend. After fifteen minutes, they stopped in front of a three story, canary yellow townhome that had golden light spilling from the first two floor windows. The windows all had white trim while the main door was a cornflower blue. He led Jayna up the double step and used the brass knocker shaped like a stirrup.
"Probably not as much trouble as I'm in for, "Neil said. "But you never....
The door flew open before he could finish and a short, diminutive woman with a strong oval face, hazel eyes and dark brown hair in a page-boy cut stood there, hands on her hips as she regarded the pair on her front steps. "Well," she said, saying mountains with that one word. "Cornelius Alfonse Tremble. It's been six years since I've see you in person. And you show up empty handed?"
"No mom," Neil said with a slight grin. "I brought you a Mira Jayna." With the hand he had at Jayna's back, he nudged her forward a half step. "That's better than anything. Jayna, this is my mother Gwendolyn Marie Smythe Tremble."
"Really," Gwendolyn’s matching hazel eyes locked with Neils. "Middle names now?"
"You opened that door, mom. Don't be rude," Neil said with humor in his eyes and tone now.
Blowing air out with a "Pffft," noise, Gwen looked Jayna over critically and said, "We've heard a few things about you Jayna. Please call me Gwen. And welcome to Sunflower house."
"Thank you, Gwen. And please call me Jayna," she replied formally, giving the woman a half bow. "I have heard a few things about you as well. It is an honor to be welcomed to your house." Then she smiled, dropping the formality. "Do you have a fondness for sunflowers?"
Grasping Jayna lightly by an elbow, Gwen guided her through a hallway that shot through to the back of the house, paintings and pictures lined the walls, along with an assortment of curios. The walls were painted a red tinged parchment and hardwood floors seemed to run throughout, with various rugs in places to help deaden noise. "Oh, it's been called Sunflower House since the seventeen hundreds," Gwen replied, taking Jayna into the kitchen. "Rather than use house numbers and long before anything so technical as a locator beacon, all of the homes in St. Johns had some sort of name attached to them. The outside of this house always had sunflowers painted on the wooden fencing. When that disappeared, they added the hand forged sunflowers to the metal grates that served as a screen door. Now the sunflowers are carved into the double doors."
The kitchen was painted white with white cabinetry and copper and black enameled foreign looking appliances. Most of the flat surfaces were of butcher blocking and more utensils and cooking kit filled the counter space.
Neil was left to follow after, bemused as his mother took charge and left him to close up the doors and trail after.
The smell of cooking filled his nostrils as he moved through the hallway to the back of the house and he paused in the doorway, taking in the kitchen he hadn't seen in years.
Gwen guided Jayna toward a tall stool with a padded back, "Please have a seat Jayna," she offered, though the tone was more of a command. "And what can I offer you? There's tea. Beer. Bourbon. Tequila. Pretty much all of your standard alcohols. And of course," she added with a smile, "I'd recommend we start with the Sunflower, which is a concoction all of its own."
The house was fascinating, as was the history. She'd never really had much of a home as her family had to move several times. Jayna glanced at Neil before replying. "The Sunflower sounds interesting. What's it made of?"
Without preamble, Gwen went to a nearby refer opened the door and took a glass pitcher and a slightly brown bottle of beer, both of which began showing condensation as soon as they hit the kitchens warmer air. The beer she tossed at her son without a second look as she moved the pitcher to the counter. Next she retrieved a pair of chilled coup glasses from the refer and took a deep green bottle with flowing, ornate label and poured a small portion of the yellow liqueur into each of the glasses. Reaching into a freezer hidden under the counter, Gwen took a frosted beer mug out and slid it down the counter top toward her son.
Moving back to the coupe glasses, Gwen picked each up in order, holding it up for Jayna and Neil to watch as she swirled the liquor about in the glass, coating the insides before dumping the remainder down the embedded counter sink.
Neil caught the brain grenade his mother tossed at him and popped the lever and cork closure from the top while retrieving a glass from the side board. Neil saw Jayna's eyes automatically track the thrown beer and he grinned, "Mom's a Mixologist from a long line of boozers, rum-runners and smugglers." he told her as he slid into a seat next to the Cure's Intel officer. "And it is grossier, I am told, to drink a beer from the container it is stored in." He began pouring the light amber liquid from his bottle into the frosted mug.
Ignoring Neil for the moment, Gwen's hazel eyes gathered Jayna's and said, "We start by rinsing the glasses with Absinth, which has anise notes." As she settled the glasses, she picked up the pitcher, and poured a measure into both the glasses in front of her, stopping a third of a centimeter from the top. "The main drink has gin, Elderflower liqueur, orange liqueur, and freshly squeezed lemon juice."
Fetching a lemon from a nearby stand, she cut small half-moon slices and added one to each glass. She returned the pitcher to the refer and slid the glass in front of Jayna, "For my own twist, I add orange bitters that I made myself." Smiling, she glanced at Neil fondly and said, "Yes. And now the family has sadly fallen on hard times and we have Marines." Raising her glass, she toasted, "To the Federation Marine Corp?"
"Yes." Jayna smiled at Neil before raising her glass. "To the Federation Marine Corps." Then she took a sip and paused to savor the flavors. "This is nice." She took another sip before asking. "What do you do, besides mix drinks?"
Gwen sipped at her own drink, glanced at Neil who was sampling his beer then looked back to Jayna, "Cornelius hasn't told you about me then?"
Swallowing his beer, Neil said, "The highlights. Sure. Details though..."
"Drink your beer," Gwen said, shaking her head at her son. "Our family has a fishing boat still and I'm on boards for the management of Fisheries in this region, along with managing the coastal sea beds, kelp farms and aquaculture. I went to school for that. We do some charters with the Sylvester. Hugo, Cornelius's brother, operates that half the time, though he and Renae are thinking of moving the family into Sunflower house and running the boat full time."
Neil raised an eyebrow at that, "I thought he was too warm blooded...the wimp." He grinned into his glass as his mother glared at him.
"Renae likes St. Johns and Jessie and Wil are old enough now that if they run out, they mostly put clothes on."
"They're in their twenties. I would hope so," Neil replied deadpan. "They going to keep the place in Greece?"
Gwen drank more and nodded, "Yes. Speaking of places, I believe you've gotten a notice that Finster's Steading property you hold needs to have something done with it...."
Neil paused, then swallowed more of his beer and said, "I sent them a letter for deferment. FMC/Fleet affiliation will get me that. I just have to send them plans for some sort of improvement."
Snorting, he glanced at Jayna and said, "I wish we had time to go look at that chunk of rock. I can't remember if I mentioned it."
"You mentioned it. I'd like to see it some time." Jayna turned to Gwen. "Being told what you do isn't the same as hearing you talk about it. It sounds like things are going well here and will be getting better." She wished they had more time so she could see everything, but she hoped Neil would bring her back here at some point for another visit.
Gwen raised a toast to Jayna and drank, then said "You're smart. Makes me wonder why you're hanging around with a busted down, one legged Marine. But, I suppose I get that too." She smiled at her son, taking away the barbs and said, "This might be the answer you're looking for, Jayna. I do what I want. When I want. And have no timetables unless I think I need them. For those that don't like that, they can go twirl. So today, I'm spending time with my wayward marine of a son and his...girlfriend?"
With a motherly look, she stared at Neil at that point.
To his credit, Neil didn't duck but took the stare straight on. "More than that, but we haven't gotten quite to discussing what. Been..."
Gwen cut him off and said, "Bah. Too busy. You're full of it, Neil. Don't be stupid."
Then she looked at Jayna and said, "If he can help it. He's not dumb is he? I worried when he fell on his head so many times as a boy...and then he followed his Adolphus's steps and became a marine..."
"I'm right here mom," Neil protested, but only half-heartedly.
His mom did kinda have a point.
"He's very smart," Jayna countered. "And he's an excellent Marine." She met Neil's eyes for a moment. "He's someone you can be proud of--even if he isn't a fisherman."
"Oh, I am proud of him," Gwen waived generally toward Neil as she retrieved the pitcher of Sunflowers and topped up hers and Jayna's glasses. "He's just been trying very hard to kill himself since he was about four when he decided to pull a power receptor apart and stuck a nail into it to see what would happen." Gwen shook her head toward her son even as she sampled the drink again. She caught the scent of bread and set her glass down as she pulled open a wall oven and began pulling French loaves out and placing them on the counter.
"I am proud," Gwen said again, as she double checked the doneness and checked her chrono. "Jayna, I hope you eat seafood. We're doing a mug up tonight. I have the pot going and just need to drop in the lobsters, scallops and shrimp in that order. If you don't, it's going to be corn, potatoes and some onions. And the bread, of course. With some fresh churned butter, I traded for."
"I do eat seafood," Jayna assured her. "I was raised on Bajor." She paused, then asked, "What's a mug up?"
Sighing reproachfully at her son again, "Neil is failing again at the basics..." She took up a small container with butter and smeared some across the tops of the loaves, which were all fifteen centimeter. "It can reference a light snack before supper, usually served with tea which is where the term mug comes from. In this case, it can also reference a seafood boil done outside. I have a pit going in the side garden with potatoes, corn, onion, spices, beer, and we'll be putting in lobster, oysters, scallops and shrimp. There's lemon for flavoring...and too much butter."
Smiling, Gwen finished and put away the butter crock, then covered the loaves with tea towels. "Easy clean up that way and we can sit around the fire. I am very happy you're both here. I'll go check on the boil and you two finish those drinks, then top up and step out to the fire?"
Jayna just nodded. She didn't think Gwen would take no for an answer, and she was looking forward to the evening ahead.
She stood and went over to Neil. "Your mother is something else. I like her."
Neil waited till the carved wooden garden door clicked shut behind his mother, then stepped over and tore off a hunk from the end of a fresh loaf. Halved that and applied butter from the crock without bothering to use a knife. He offered a half to Jayna as he jammed the other bit into his mouth and began chewing. It was as good as he remembered and a brief waive of homesickness hit him.
Jayna took the buttered bread and bit into it. It was the best she'd eaten.
"Used to do this too when I was... Well, here more. Hate to disappoint her getting to give me grief," he said with a grin, his eyes flickering toward the window. "Better with melted cheese of some sort, but fresh butter will do." Glancing around the place he said, "She got into this place when her and dad split...I grew up on the shore at my grand-dad's place, after we lived on both Luna and Mars when I was a Canaille as they say."
Glancing again at the window, he said, "She likes you, too, FYI. She said she was happy to see us at least twice. You I can understand of course. She wants to give a good impression."
"She did that by being your mother." Jayna ate the last bite of bread and butter. "And if she bakes like this, I'll be happy to visit here with you any time." Plus, she wanted to learn more about his former home.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Gwendolyn Marie Smythe Tremble
Civilian
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