Rosa sat in her kitchen on board the USS Paso Robles. Not long ago she and Candelaria and Ariana had been staying with Ren’s parents back on Earth. They had been separated from her husband while he figured out what he wanted to do with his future. Rosa knew he just needed the time to come to term with all that had happened during the attack on Frontier Day.

One thing about being back home she had missed when being on a starship was the Sunday family gatherings. It was a day of celebration, of everyone coming together and putting their work lives, worries and everyday life aside to just be a family, sometimes playing games, sitting around talking or just enjoying all the food that had been prepared. She sighed when she thought that that tradition was once again going to be put aside.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Candelaria said from across the counter as she dropped her book bag down. She had just come from her first day of school on the ship. The first thing she noticed was the way her mother sat with her head resting on her hand looking as if she had the troubles of the universe on her shoulders.

“It is nothing.” Rosa said, dismissing her thoughts. She picked up the padd in front of her, looking at the blank screen and set it back down. “How was your first day?”  She worried about the girls starting in a new classroom, making new friends again.

“It was fine.” Candelaria said quickly. “Let’s talk about what is bothering you, Ama (mother).” She said, concern in her voice. They were a close family, Candelaria could talk to her parents about anything and so could Ariana.

Rosa smiled at her daughter, she reminded her of her Abuelita, she wouldn’t let this go until Rosa told her what she had been thinking about. “I was working out a menu for Sunday dinner in our quarters.” Rosa explained. “It made me miss our dinners back home.”

Candelaria’s eyes lit up with thoughts of their family gatherings. “I miss them too! Ariana and I were just talking about that last night. It is one of the hardest things to leave behind. Our family is close and we miss out on so much.” She sighed, quite like her mother had earlier.

“But we don’t have to.” Ariana said from behind her sister. She had come in a few moments behind her and took a seat of her own.

“We can’t beam home every Sunday!” Candelaria declared. “It’s kind of far to get there!”

Ariana rolled her eyes. “Of course not!” she declared as she looked from her mother to her sister. “But we can make our own tradition.”

“There’s only the four of us!” Candelaria shook her head. “It won’t be the same!”

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be.” Rosa spoke up as she looked at Ariana. “What did you have in mind?” She loved that their children were free thinkers and felt like their ideas were valued.

“So.” Ariana said. “Being on a ship it’s kind of like the crew is our la familia.” She paused for a moment. “Like we are one big family.” She paused for a moment. “Maybe we could come up with something that includes them.”

Rosa thought for a moment. “I don’t cook for the crew on the weekends.” She and Ren had agreed that those days she would dedicate to being home with the girls, as all to soon they would be heading out to start their own lives. “Maybe we could have a get together once a month.”

“Or what about every Saturday night.” Candelaria said. “Ariana and I could help you make food, some of our traditions, we could maybe ask some of the crew for theirs and whoever wants to come we could have a dinner and afterwards play games or something just like back home. It would be like a new tradition for our ship family.”

“It might be hard to do this weekly.” Rosa spoke up. “The ship isn’t like life back home, there are shifts seven days a week.” She liked the idea but she didn’t want the girls to get their hopes up. Ren might think doing it on a weekly basis was a bit too much.”

“The whole crew may not want to come.” Ariana said realistically, always the level headed one. “Some will come every week and others may come once in a while.” She paused. “And even if Apa (father) says every other week or once a month it will still be our tradition and something to look forward to that reminds us of our family.”

“And our culture.” Candelaria said. “And the crews culture.” She looked at their mother. “We could get some recipes from others, from their cultures and try to make some of them too.”

Rosa smiled at her daughters. They both loved to cook with her, though they didn’t have the same love for it she did. Still it was one thing they shared together. A bond, if you will, that gave them special memories together. “It is a possibility.” She said after a few moments. “I will have to bring it up to your father and see what he thinks of the idea.” She still wasn’t certain how he would feel.

“We could do it at dinner one night if you want support.” Ariana offered. “It wasn’t just your idea, we came up with it together.”

Candaleria grinned. “And we are a force, he has a hard time saying no to all of us.”

Rosa laughed softly, “As much as I see the strategic plan there, I think it would be wise for me to bring it up to him. He will want time to think it over and we don’t want to make him feel ganged up on. Being the captain is a huge responsibility and regardless of how excited we are or how much we want this, we need to remember and respect his decision.”

“Do you think he will say no.” Candaleria sighed. She hoped that he didn’t, it sounded fun.

“I don’t know.” Rosa replied honestly. “Pulling this off will be a lot of work and it will pull away from our Saturday night as a family. I’m just saying we need to respect his thoughts and feelings.”

“Apa (father) will love it.” Ariana spoke up. “But I see what you mean.” She paused. “We can at least work out a plan to propose to him.” Her eyes lit up. “Maybe over some ice cream?” She said hopefully.

Rosa smiled at them both. “Yes! I’ll get us some and we can get to work. Soon the three of them were busy working out the proposal to take to REN. Ross hoped he wasn’t opposed to the plan or at least had a compromise. They would know soon enough.