Files And Birthdays

Posted on Fri Oct 2nd, 2026 @ 4:49pm by Lieutenant Kally Kellerman & Tessa di'Orion

1,229 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Interim 3: Subspace Drift
Location: Sickbay(To Start With)

Reviewing personnel files was both boring and fascinating all at the same time. While going through them to verify that nothing was missing and to see the variety of illnesses that people had in the past was boring, yet fascinating, there were over two HUNDRED of them to review and they got dull after a while. Tessa flipped to the next one in the queue, smiling as a very familiar face came up as the profile image. "Oh, Henry.." She said quietly, scrolling down to the first page of information, then stopping, looking up at the console for one particular bit of information, then back down.

She finally got up and slipped out of the alcove and gave a wave to Kally as she approached the doctor. "Lady Kellerman?" She asked, holding out a PADD, "I may have found something that needs attention..."

Kally took the padd and rubbed her eyes then looked it over. "Henry? I can't imagine his file's missing anything. He updates his own records before anyone else's."

"Well, I remember hearing that birthdays are important to humans and I was seeing that..." She reached around Kally and pointed at the piece of information that she'd noticed, "Henry's birthday is in two days. I haven't had a chance to plan anything for him, because I didn't really know that it was coming up this soon... What can I do to celebrate his birthday with him?"

Kally's eyebrows shot up. She immediately felt bad for not realizing when his birthday was. In fact, she realized she wasn't keeping up with that with any of her staff. She promised herself that would change too. "Well, I'm sure he'd appreciate some special affection," she said, smiling. "That's usually what I like to start with. You can also get him a practical gift. Something that goes with his hobbies, maybe. Or something you can enjoy together."

"I'm sure that if I jumped him, that would work, but we do that all the time, not that he ever complains..." Tessa mused. "I could um... But what sort of gift could I give him? Aside from agreeing to that silly marriage thing that he's always teasing me about... I really don't know what all of his hobbies are, aside from chess or reading or that sort of thing. We watch movies and old television shows, too, but he mostly watches what I want to, so I don't know if he really likes them."

Kally smiled softly. "Tessa, honey, if there is anyone on this ship who knows Henry inside and out, it's you. Sometimes gifts are sentimental, sometimes they're traditional. Sometimes, they're something special that the person didn't have but always wanted. Think about your dear Henry and I'm sure you'll come up with something." She smiled and gave Tessa a hug. "And if that fails, just be waiting in bed with his favorite dinner and afterwards you can get a head start on next year."

Tessa squeezed Kally in a hug, "He certainly knows me on the inside." She giggled, "I could probably make him a sword, I mean, I've got a couple already, but I could probably make a new one just for him, it wouldn't be as ornate as I'd really like it to be though..." She released the doctor and sighed, "If he hadn't made me those rubber duckies back when he thought I'd be leaving the ship for good, I could do something like those, but he did such a good job with them."

Kally gave her a quizzical look. "Rubber...duckies? Like, the bath toy?"

"Bath toy?" Tessa shook her head, "He keeps them on his table and he gave me a set that was me, him and Cass'e'Indira. I thought it was really sweet, and they were cute! I don't know if he brought his whole collection with him, but when we get back to his place on Earth, I'm going to search his room to find more of them!"

Kally smiled. "Sounds adorable," she said. "I'm sure when you get there he'll show you every one of them. At that point can even get new ones if you wanted."

"Well, maybe I shouldn't have to wait to get him new ones... The ones he gave me were for the Princess he thought I was..." Her eyes brightened, "What if I made him one with me like this?" She gestured at the medical uniform she wore, "With him in one as well?"

"That is an inspired idea," Kally said, approvingly. "Go get it done."

"Thank you!" Tessa leaned in for another hug and gave Kally a kiss on her cheek, "And maybe I should go ask some of his friends what they think about things? I want this to be a very special day for him!"

"I've no doubt you'll make it one," Kally said. "As for his friends? Having them surprise him with a party is a human tradition. It's a bit last minute, but you could go for it. Count me in if you do."

"I just don't know.." Tessa exhaled deeply, "I don't wanna share him, but I don't wanna keep his friends out from celebrating this either." She threw her hands up, "I've never had to celebrate someone's birthday before!"

"I wouldn't worry about sharing him too much," Kally said. "A short birthday get together with some food, cake, and gifts, and once it's all over, you have all night to be with him and make him smile." She held up a padd. "I could help. You handle the ducks, I'll send out some invitations and replicate some food, and we'll give him a quick little surprise party to celebrate, then you can take him home and really celebrate." She grinned wickedly and bobbed her eyebrows.

"You have a deal!" Tessa said immediately, "We could even have the party here, but we'd need to give him something to do that'd keep him out of here while we get everything taken care of... What if..." Tessa's mind raced as she thought of something, anything, that would take him an hour or so, "We told him to go inoculate all of the Marines for um..... Something, I don't know what, but that would keep him occupied!"

Kally thought it over, then got a wicked grin. "Okay, leave that to me," she said. "What's his favorite kind of cake?"

"Lemon, with vanilla frosting." Tessa answered instantly, "He says that the tang of the lemon just really makes the sweetness of the rest stand out."

"Okay," Kally said, making a note. "You get those ducks, I'll get the party planned, and you plan the evening after. We'll reconvene in a few hours and compare notes, and day after tomorrow, we'll give him a fantastic surprise."

"I'll make sure that there are some games, the ducks and a major surprise for him back in my quarters after the party." Tessa agreed with Kally, "This is going to be SO much fun! I don't think he'll know what to do with himself!"

"Just so long as you do," Kally said as Tessa grinned and bounced back to her station. She smiled and decided planning a quick surprise party would be a good way to take her mind off things during her lunch hour, and headed back to her office.

 

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