All that glitters isn't gold, it's Rubi coloured

Posted on Mon Oct 31st, 2022 @ 11:27am by Lieutenant JG Spencer Griffith-Bailey

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Spencer's Quarters
Timeline: Several hours after "Updates..." and before the Final Battle
1255 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Spencer was sitting in his quarters and relaxing a bit while he had some down time before his next shift and hadn’t really thought about much except for maybe doing some exercise on the holodeck and whether or not he would be hearing from Sarah or their daughter Rubi. Coincidentally, at the same time he thought of them, the screen in the corner of the room pinged to life with an incoming call. From Tiana.

“Oh great, hear we go.” He muttered under his breath. Things had been strained between them for a while now, especially since the whole incident with his previous posting and then her finding a new partner, so he wasn’t too hopeful with the outcome of this call from her.

The screen blinked to life to see Sarah sitting there with a new haircut and looking a lot more radiant than he’d seen her in a while, so obviously she was happier now than when they were together. “Hi Spencer.” She said with a strained tone and an almost frosty close-lipped smile. “It’s been a while. How are you?”

Spencer didn’t smile back and instead just gave her a tired look in reply. “Same old, same old. It’s as good as it’s going to get at the moment, mostly because I’m not able to see my daughter. How are you?” He rubbed his hands over his face to emphasise the tiredness he possessed and then looked at the screen to see the background behind Sarah. It looked like she was sitting in the dining room of the house they still shared, but so much had been changed since he was last there: all the photos of them as a family with Rubi had been removed and replaced with new ones, the walls had been freshly painted, and there were new decorative items.

Sarah looked hesitant to answer at the mention of Ruby, “Um, things are going good. Alexis and I are still going strong and Rubi seems to adore her, and we’re even contemplating getting her a dog as a companion.” She looked down at her hands and twisted the ring on her ring finger before coming back to focusing on Spencer. “Which is what I wanted to talk to you about. Alexis and I have been discussing it, and we think that you should give over full custody of Rubi to us. She deserves to be in a loving, stable family environment where she's not going to be dragged a million miles of distance between locations each holiday break, and we're also moving so she's going to be closer to my side of the family. We just feel that she's better off with us than you." The same strained tone was there but this time it was quieter as Sarah watched and waited for Spencer to speak.

The old saying of 'hits like a tonne of bricks' didn't even come close to what Spencer felt in that instant as he listened in shock. It felt as though the floor had fallen out from under him and his heart had just been ripped out and stopped beating; there were no words. Shock, anger, hatred, sadness, all of the emotions overwhelmed him in an instant. "You.." His voice faltered as he looked at her, "You want to permanently take her away from me?" There was pain in his voice as he continued talking. "I mean, why? Why would you do this? I've been holding up my end of the deal: getting help by seeing a counsellor on a regular basis, I've stopped the drinking... I've been doing everything right!" He asked her again, this time with more desperation, "Why would you do this? Let me see her."

"I don't think it's wise, Spence." He could see that she was now the one trying to hold back emotion from the bombshell she'd just unexpectedly dropped.

"Please..." he asked again in an almost begging tone.

"Spencer..." She replied quietly as a tear ran down her cheek.

His emotions gave way to frustration, "How can you make a decision like this?! What kind of impact do you think it's going to have on her? What are you going to say to her for the reason that I'm not there when she asks to see me? There's no way in Hell that I'm going to let that bitch you call your partner take my place." He slammed his fist down on the table and clenched his jaw to calm himself down a bit. "I deserve to be in her life, Sarah. A girl needs her father."

"Then why haven't you been here for her over the last year?!" Sarah shouted back at him, tears now freely falling down her cheeks out of anger. "Huh? Why haven't you been here when she's asked 'Where's dad?' when she's going to sleep? Where were you when all she's wanted to do is get a cuddle from dad because she's had a bad day? Huh? Or when I've been working two jobs to try and keep us with a roof over our heads, where were you to look after her? Yeah, that's right: you haven't been here. You know why I chose Alexis instead of forgiving you completely and getting back with you? Alexis takes the time to see me for me and she has stepped into the role for our daughter that YOU skipped out on, and Rubi absolutely adores her."

"You can't tell me that while you were off drinking and getting it on with the Captains daughter that you were thinking about us. And don't even get me started on the dangerous flying as a result of the drinking." Sarah finished. "Because until you're ready to be the man she deserves in her life, you're not going to be in it. I'm sorry, Spencer."

Spencer sank into the back of the chair, defeated, as the reality of it all sank in: she was right. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I really am. But please don’t do this."

“We’re filing the paperwork over the next few days so be expecting them. Goodbye, Spencer.” With that, Sarah switched the screen off and the conversation was over.

“Sarah, wait-“ Spencer leant forward at the same time she shut the call off and then fell back into the chair, reflecting on the conversation for a brief moment before the grief overtook him and he stood up and paced with his hands clasped behind his head. He was beyond frustrated as he kept pacing back and forth and let out a yell before sitting on the bed with his head in his hands for a good while, his body racked with sobs. He was that lost in his own grief that he didn't know how long it was before he laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, or even how long he did that for.

The time seemed to pass either really slowly or really fast, he couldn't tell, and all of a sudden it was time for his shift to start so Spencer got up, washed his face in the basin and looked at the tired, worn down and depressed face staring back at him. He tried to smile but it just looked sad so he turned away and put on his jacket ready for another shift, and he thought that he should try and speak to someone. Or do something, anything.

OFF