Snippet #2440057

"Yes, of course! My son is Theodore, and my daughter is Daphne. They're fifteen and eleven, respectively. And as for their mother...my wife Marianne is a civilian engineer on Mars." Dorath answered, a small smile on his face.

"Marianne does miss having our children staying with her, but we came to this arrangement some time ago. Due to my duties with Starfleet, and due to Marianne's own job on the shipping yard on Mars, I have been unable to have my wife and children live with me during my various ship assignments. My children have comfortably lived with their mother on Mars for most of their lives. I regularly contacted them via subspace when I was on duty, and when I've been on shore leave, I've done my best to spend as much time with them as possible back home. Unfortunately, it just hasn't been quite enough for me and my children. Marianne and I are both loathe to leave our respective fields of work so that we can be a full family together, so we came up with this little arrangement. Assuming all goes well, my children will be living with me on the Albion for the next two to three years."

Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Theodore and Daphne miss their mother terribly, already, but at the same time they're happy and excited to spend time with me, and live aboard a starship. Little Daphne wants to be a Starfleet officer just like her father, and she's especially eager to see what it's like to live aboard one. I must say, it is...good to have my children with me, here. Considering I've been able to visit them for two months, at the most, for each time I go on shore leave...well, it will be great to have my kids here with me, for once. I hate the fact that Marianne can't be here with me, but I've long accepted that she has her own career that she is vested in on Mars."

Their separate career paths had put a strain on their marriage more than once, of course. It was to be expected. But Dorath had always been able to work out such issues with his loving and supportive wife. He and Marianne truly loved each other, and they both also loved their own respective jobs and careers. It pained Dorath that their vocations meant he was not able to spend as much time with Marianne and their children as he would have liked, but he'd long come to terms with it. And it meant a great deal to him that Marianne was willing to put up with a great deal of worry and loneliness just so he could spend some quality time with Theodore and Daphne.

"Of course Doctor, that sounds great." the Chief Intelligence Officer nodded gladly at her.

"In fact, I had our family doctor on Mars transfer over Theodore and Daphne's medical history and records onto the Albion medical database. Since my children are half Cardassian and Half Human, their...physiology is a unique case. Until my children were born, there were no documented cases of Half-Cardassian, Half Human hybrids in the Federation, so our doctor back on Mars has had to come up with different variations of treatments and such things so that they were compatible with my children's dual bloodlines, so to speak. However, I'm sure you'll have no trouble following his notes, Doctor Calhoun." he announced with a gentile smile.