#judy.

As usual, family dinners were amazing at the Robinson household -- minus the fact that she was missing her brother. Still, it was nice to have normalcy around here. A part of her always feared that it would go away, that there would be something else. But they’d cross that bridge if they were able to get back to it, correct? With both her dad and biological father in the picture, it made Judy wonder how her mom felt. Penny had boy drama of her own, and she was still a child so it’s not as if she could ask Penny for advice. 

But there was something she had to ask her mother about, something she had no experience in whatsoever. When everyone went their own ways after dinner, Judy stayed back to help her mom clean up. As the room was cleared off, Judy cleared her throat -- a way to catch her mother’s attention perhaps. “How-- How are you holding up mom?” she found herself asking. Feelings and emotions -- how did she manage to keep them under control? Her love for her dad was greater, but what about Grant? Was there anything there for him? If so, how was she holding up?

lotta  --  lotta shit he doesn’t like, in this world.  lotta shit that gets under his skin and worms its way into his brain, makes him twitchy, makes his fucking head feel fuzzy.  kindness   -   kindness, at least, outside of sacrifice, you know;  kindness outside of fear, outside of, of, of  coercion,  of  ‘please don’t eat me, mister creeper !!’   -   that’s one of them things that doesn’t just  irritate  dulu, it  ..  it  scares  him.  and he don’t like that it scares him.  he don’t like that shit at all.

she talks to him  --  like a person.  like a  friend,  and he  --  he draws his wing up over his face like dracula, nearly trips over his heels when he staggers back.  backs himself right into a corner:       huge,  bewildered  blue  eyes.

   don shrugged lazily. without them? dead probably. or he’d be alive without the countless near death experiences. truth be told, he wouldn’t be here at least, on alpha centauri, and if he’d still been then maybe he’d been in jail for the smuggling. however, there was no need in thinking about if’s. only the reality mattered and hell, it really wasn’t so bad. ❛ good question. ❜ not doing anything to stand out had always been a motto of his. just do good while laying low. that motto hadn’t changed but he’d realized sometimes you had to stand out to do good, be a fucking hero and all that shit. or else the people you’ve come to care about, or even yourself, would die.

    it was rather new to don who usually only took care of himself. now he might say no a couple of times but judy seemed to know how to convince him to do things somehow. with just one damn look that’d melt his stubborn heart in seconds. ❛ yeah. the adventure, the ideas, you know... ❜ he said, grinning widely, meeting her gaze and raising a brow at her. those dark eyes of hers, sparkling even if there was no light around. don felt his hands itching, to be on her skin, in her hair, around her waist. did she miss that too? even if it had just been one time but maybe that’s all it was supposed to be?  ❛ like what, being captain? ❜ he smirked.

    ❛ oh yeah. three definitely, ❜ he agreed with a nod. don still thought it was incredibly wild that she had found her biological dad after all those years. he’d asked maureen what she thought about it but hadn’t exactly... gotten a great answer out of the woman.  ❛ oh please we’ll make twenty pies before she lets go of that pen. ❜ he hoped at least. don couldn’t wait to read more of penny’s stories, even though he’d lived through most of them with her. just not that year they were apart.

     grabbing a knife to chop the vegetables don answered almost immediately. ❛ the air. ❜ although he’d spent most of his time in space, coming back to earth now and then had been rough, seeing and feeling in his lungs how the atmosphere got worse and worse. ❛ i mean spaceship air is fine compared to earth but this many trees and plants make one hell of a difference, you know. like earth before the impact. ❜

.

No matter what he thought, or how he felt, Judy knew for a fact that she appreciated his existence. It may not have been the case when they first met, but all had changed so fast, so soon. When he spoke, Judy smiled -- which was a natural occurrence in itself. Their fun banters before proved that they got along really well. “The ideas, huh?” she asked with a raised brow in question. “All your ideas nearly got you killed-- granted you’re here and i’m very thankful for that, but can’t deny how many times you thought it was best to nearly sacrifice yourself for us.” she reminded him. 

“Unless you were talking about some other type of ideas, you should share them with me.” she added softly. Maybe those ideas pertained to their first time? Was she okay? Did he enjoy himself? Would he ever -- Judy pushed those thoughts away in fear that she may get too caught up with those thoughts and say something she may regret. “Ha. Ha. It’s not as if they need a captain anytime, but they do need a doctor.” she added as if to remind him that she was a full time doctor again. “Ah yes, the air here is much better here.” she agreed. “We don’t have to worry about the oxygen running out, so no, I agree.”

Judy laughed at the thought of dinner being filled with nothing but pies. “Oh, Will would have loved that if dinner was all just pies.” she added before turning back to get started on her work. They’d need pie crusts, and apples. Would an apple pie be better or should she try blueberry pie? “Which pie do you think would be nicer? Apple, blueberry, or cherry?” she asked as she turned to watch him once more. 

He was busy chopping away and while he was great with fixing things, putting things together with his hands or taking them apart, it was so odd to see him chopping vegetables. Not that Judy was complaining-- it was a nice sight. “For the record, I appreciate you being here, Don. Thank you for just existing because I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here.” and while it wasn’t the best moment to be heartfelt not when he was cutting vegetables. That’s probably what triggered her to say such a thing. That he didn’t have to be here helping her in the kitchen. He could be anywhere, or anyone he chose. 

"judy!" aurora greeted with a warm smile on her face. "did you want the usual or something different?" aurora always made sure that when she drew up the chalkboard with the day's menu on it to make sure there was something the people she saw come by more frequent than others had a favorite on there. having this job was one of her first real taste of what it meant to be on her own and she took it very seriously. it brought her peace to be able to bring smiles on the regulars faces, to show her appreciation. "i hope you have a safe day planned and there isn't any calls for trouble."

Protective Prompts -- always accepting

Her mother's words rang through her mind. She knew that; She loved her family.. She loved her mother, and her father, her brother and her sister. And soon enough there was also Don and that stupid chicken Debbie. Could she deny the fact that she didn't love Grant? No. Because there was a part of her that did. A part of her that truly looked up to him, and will always look up to him.

Then there was her mother's words again. Was she asking her to protect something on her behalf? Was it to save her father from heartbreak or was she protecting Grant Kelly from heartbreak? What about her? Judy knew that her mother loved them. All of them. But hearing her say such a thing only piqued her curiosity.

"And you know i'll always protect you, right?" she finally asked as she looked up at her mother. "I love you." she added as if to remind her mother that Judy wouldn't dare say a word. That she would also protect her mother, no matter what the secret. No matter what was going on. She'd protect her family if she had to because she loved them all.

Judy Robinson wasn't sure how to take that. She was raised to be independent. She was raised to take care of herself, to keep her emotions in check. But hearing this from Grant -- her biological father -- someone she had been yearning to be close to for so, so long was here and telling her that he was going to keep her safe. Her father did that job perfectly well too.

She understood he was just trying to be a parent. Maybe he felt obligated. Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe he felt the need to say it just because it seemed appropriate. Which is why Judy didn't react. Not yet. Not until she was able to understand the emotions she felt.

With a calm and collected demeanor, she glanced up at the man and smiled. "Thank you, but with our new life here, I don't think we have to worry about anything anymore." There was no other threat. There was no more fear of looking back and worrying of what may come through. They were safe.

What about her mother? Did this mean that he was trying to win her mother's heart? How did her mother feel about this? Would she want her to be so close to her biological father? Is it wrong that she wanted to reach out and maybe hug him?