reversedpolarity | 031 [Personal Log]

[Locked]
I'm engaged. It's been three days and I still don't quite believe it - not only that I actually asked, but that she said yes, too. And everyone knows. People I hardly know are congratulating me - us - and wishing us the best of luck. It's still a little surreal.

I managed to get in touch with Mum and Dad last night, to tell them. Mum cried. Dad was grinning from ear to ear while Mum went absolutely hysterical. And of course she insisted on getting to be at the wedding and asked about a thousand times when it would be and when she'd get to meet Liz, and today when I got off shift I found about twenty messages from various cousins, aunts and uncles, a few people I didn't even know I was related to. I did get to tell Mum and Dad that Liz would wear the family tartan at the wedding, which got a fresh round of tears from Mum and a promise that she'd start working on a sash for Liz as soon as possible. Dad offered to get some of his mates together to play the pipes for us. I think my favorite message, though, was from Clara, who teased me up and down about finally listening to Mum, before adding in some good news of her own - I'm going to be an uncle soon. Depending on how long it takes us to actually get around to having the wedding, I might have to ask the wee bairn to be the ring-bearer.

It's a lot to take in all at once. I never really thought much about my future beyond getting into Starfleet. I guess I sort of assumed that once I was enlisted, I'd be here the rest of my life, which was as good a plan as any when I was eighteen. That's eighteen years I've been in Starfleet, all told. By the time this tour is over, it'll be twenty-three. It's a little strange, to think that I've spent half my life in the service so far, if you include the time it took to get through the Academy and the side work I did at Glasgow.

I know Liz is concerned about taking me away from Starfleet and away from space, but twenty-some years, that's a long time. And before Delta Vega, I had a good run or two in space already under my belt. The problem with staying in Starfleet is eventually they won't let me be just Lieutenant Commander Scott forever. Eventually it'll be Commander Scott and - God forbid - Captain Scott. A captain can't be Chief Engineer, you can't have two captains on one ship. I don't want to end up captain of my own ship someday, no matter how ridiculous that sounds. It's hard enough keeping an engine room in order. I can't imagine having to do that with an entire ship. I'd rather be a brilliant engineer than a brilliant captain who used to have time for engineering.

Enough havering from me. There's still the rest of the tour to figure everything out. For now, I've got to get in touch with Clara to properly congratulate her, and status reports won't look over themselves.