Learning about Jessica

You step out and initially see just an entrance to the park with a short bridge so that people could pass over a mini train tunnel that ran underneath. Families and couples were walking here and there, looking for the right spot to sit down on a blanket or set up a game of one sort or another or a place to eat and talk. You notice a high concentration of people walking about in StarFleet uniforms compared to other places you’ve visited on Risa.

Waving goodbye to Scotty who made a beeline for the convention center, you walk into the park with Laura and Diana flanking you and you could sense kitty-Shampoo somewhere nearby. You hadn’t actually used your **** abilities that much recently and hadn’t noticed Shampoo had decided to follow you here in cat form. Feeling yet another familiar presence, you look around slowly only to catch something light blue ducking behind a food stand.

“Pixel followed us too,” you comment as you decide that you had spent too long standing in the middle of the path and continued walking.

“Too? Who else?” Diana asked as she squinted her eyes and tried to locate people.

“Shampoo in the tree over there,” Laura nodded her head at a strong looking oak tree where some purple poked out of the leaves.

“Huh.”

“I kinda want to know if they followed out of boredom or someone told them to come with,” you say quietly. “Or maybe to see/meet Jessica before the others.”

“I don’t know about Shampoo but maybe Pixel’s here to meet her competition.” You look at Laura unsure of what she meant. “You know, the whole daughter thing? You hatched her egg and apparently calls you ‘daddy’ but in a not weird way?” Your jaw drops slightly as you take in what she said.

“Shit…no wonder Pixel reacted the way she did.” Dropping a couple bowls of food and then teleporting away after temporarily blinding and deafening you and the others was an unusual reaction. You had thought it was a minor prank at the time but now it was definitely a red flag.

“And it’s too late to deal with it, I see the mother of your child,” Diana said and pointed in a direction. Following her finger, you see Mariner, Tendi, Boimler, Rutherford all sitting at a picnic table. Mariner was waving in your direction. A little girl with curly hair in pigtails was walking towards them with a frisbee in hand. She started turning around to look at who Mariner was waving at once she realized that Mariner was not looking at her. The little girl who must’ve been around seven or eight, widened her eyes as she caught sight of you.

(Ten minutes later)

“I’m telling you that Rose of Sharon makes a better base flower, they are lower maintenance and they come in so many colors.” Rose of Sharons start to bloom around the field.

“Yeah but sunflowers are better for creating a sturdier frame plus they are better for combining with daisies and chrysanthemums,” you replied while changing many of the Rose of Sharons to daisies, lilies, and dandelions. Jessica glared at you before more Rose of Sharons bloom in a circle around her with some daffodils scattered in between.

“Kirlia Kir?” Pixel asked, looking between you and Jessica in confusion, a poorly constructed flower crown in her lap. You found it adorable that Pixel had tried making a flower crown exactly how you were weaving though your technique doesn’t work as well with her arms. You look at the flower crown on Jessica’s head.

(Eight minutes before)

“And this is Laura and Diana.” You gesture to your respective girl/lady. You were kneeling in front of little Jessica after the initial meeting. Jessica looked like a miniature version of your mom with Mariner’s mouth and hair type, your eyes, and a skin color that is about midway between yours and Mariners, maybe a little darker.

“You don’t look like you could bench press a Klingon,” Jessica commented, causing you to droop a little.

“I can too,” you reply with false huffiness.

“No you can’t.”

“Can too.”

“No you can’t.” Jessica started to gain a little smile

“Can too plus infinity.”

“No you—gah!” Jessica cried out in surprise as Pixel Teleported behind her. “Ah can’t see!” Pixel giggled before spinning away as Jessica tried to pull off the thick flower crown from around her head and eyes. The crown was a neat circle of red and pink roses and cherry blossoms.

(Present)

Pixel’s little gift led to now where the three of you were working on making more crowns for everyone.

“Here you go Emerald Meadow,” Jessica declared as she placed a finished crown around the unicorn doll’s head, tucking it below the horn.

“Why’d you name her that?”

“She’s green, duh,” Jessica wiggled her head exasperatedly.

“Kirl Kirl!” Pixel admonished only to get blown a raspberry in return.

“Jessica! Play nice,” Mariner called out from the picnic table before she went back to some discussion with Laura and the others. You weren’t paying that much attention to it.

“Pixel, you didn’t need to tell Jessica off, ‘duh’ is barely an insult,” you say. Pixel looks up at you in shock while Jessica puffs up with a grin. Pixel looks like she was about to protest but you decide to interject. “Say Jessica, who is your favorite Holodeck character?”

“Oh? Umm, I like a lot of them but if I had to pick, maybe… Jada Wyrnn from the Thunder Alliance trilogy,” she replied.

“Ki Kirlia k kir Lia Lia li Kir.” Jessica cocked her head.

“I’ve never heard of that one.” Pixel started to explain the plot and lore of The Gardevoir Knight in Marvel holoprogram she’s been playing in recently. You smile as the two started really into comparing their favorite stories, only interjecting when it looked like they were about to start a fandom argument.

Over at the picnic table, a conversation was brewing. “He’s doing alright, at least I think he is,” Tendi commented as she watched you give Pixel a finished crown.

“Yeah? I don’t really know how to judge that,” Diana admitted.

“If Pixel is still how I remember her, the lack of impossible shapes and illusions and the lack of angry cactus is a good sign,” Mariner chuckled to herself before she drank from a bottle of blue liquid.

“What do you mean by that?” Boimler asked, causing Diana and Laura to give a run down of what one of Pixel’s tantrums is like.

“And Jessica, well you remember what happened when she heard mom was arrested,” Mariner shrugged.

“It's a good thing your dad stopped her before she left with those minions,” Rutherford said through a bite of a sandwich. “She could’ve gotten in a lot of trouble.”

“What? Was she planning on raiding the jail with cactus minions?” Diana snorted before she paused and thought about it. “Actually, that is a serious question, James grew flowers with teeth when the police arrested Aelita and Starfire.” Laura then cut in with how Aelita, Starfire and their entourage stopped a robbery.

“Huh, like father like daughter,” Tendi commented, recalling a human idiom she overheard. Mariner looked back over at you, Jessica, and Pixel. She only raised an eyebrow at the fact that Pixel and Jessica were fighting with toy bat’leth while you refereed. Emerald Meadow and the flower crowns in a pile at your feet.

“I fight winner,” Mariner called out, getting shouts of acknowledgement. It was at that moment that an unusual sound came over the PA system through the park and the nearby buildings.