And Baby Makes Four

And Baby Makes Four

By Samantha Quinn

Rating: R, most chapters PG-13
Archive: if anyone wants it, sure.
Spoilers: Tiny, tiny, tiny one for “Unexpected.”
Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn’t write fan fiction. I’m not making any profit, so please don’t sue.
A/N: I haven’t abandoned “Supernova.” But this idea forced itself into my head today for no apparent reason while I was reading about the California Gold Rush. Eh, the book was boring, what can I say? Also, this is NOT slashy, although it may appear that way in the beginning. Although, I do like slash…perhaps the muse will tackle it next?
Feedback: All forms of constructive criticism are appreciated.

Chapter One

Bedtime Story

*******************

“’Night, pumpkin,” Trip Tucker said, kissing his daughter on the forehead.

“Daddy, tell me a story,” the little girl demanded, but another person voiced opposition to that idea.

“Oh, no you don’t, young lady. You’ve already had two stories tonight. That is more than sufficient,” Malcolm Reed admonished.

In reply, the child turned her Reed-brown eyes towards Malcolm. “But, father,” she pleaded to him, “just one more . . . please?”

Malcolm caved.

“You do realize she has inherited this swindling ability from you, do you not?” the armoury officer stated to the chief of engineering.

“Yep, southern charm at its best,” replied Trip with a grin.

“In that case, I shall have to reinforce her lessons in British civilization,” Malcolm replied. “Just to counteract your damage.”

T’Lanna Maryanne Tucker-Reed giggled as Malcolm leaned forward to twinge his daughter’s nose in an effort to soften any perceived harshness from his tone.

“What story would you like, kiddo?” Trip inquired of T’Lanna.

“How about the story of when your dad became the first human male to become pregnant?” Malcolm asked.

At Trip’s indignant look, T’Lanna giggled again. “No, no. I’ve heard that one lots of times, father. You tell me that one all the time.”

“Yes, you most certainly do,” Trip grumbled.

“What story would you like, then love?” Malcolm inquired, as he again squeaked her nose.

T’Lanna took a deep breathe and squared her shoulders before beginning to speak. Both Malcolm and Trip exchanged looks of apprehension. They knew that technique well. T’Lanna’s mother exhibited right before she presented bad news.

“I want to know the story of how I came to be,” T’Lanna stated.

Yep, her mother’s mannerisms all right. Unfortunately, the child’s mimicked behavior had failed to properly prepare the two men and they were still left momentarily speechless.

T’Lanna sighed. The eight-year-old had also inherited her mother’s intelligence and knew that this would be a difficult topic to broach with her parents.

“I want to know why I have two fathers when Kayla, Neville, and Sabastian all have one father,” the child elaborated.

“Well, love,” Malcolm stuttered, “that’s not really true. Neville does have two fathers.”

“Yeah,” Trip chorused. “And you know, Dr. Phlox’s children all have four mothers and at least four fathers.”

But the little girl shook her head back and forth forcefully. “Not like I do. Neville has one daddy that helped make him and one that lives with his mommy. But neither of you live with Mommy and both of you helped make me. And I’m not part Denobulan, either.”

“T’Lanna, I know we don’t visit the planet much, but there are many people on Earth who have two fathers-“ Malcolm began, but T’Lanna interrupted him.

“Yes, but their daddies love each other, like Ensign Satchel and Lieutenant Thatcher. You don’t love each other that way, do you?” the child protested.

Malcolm snorted. “No bloody way,” he muttered. Louder he assured the child, “Your dad and I are good mates and you are right, we don’t ‘love’ each other that way,” he began, uncertain how to finish.

“Right,” Trip agreed. “But, um, as for how you got here, really, maybe that’s a question you should ask your mama-“

“My daughter may ask me anything she likes, but first I will inquire why she is still awake when her appointed time for sleep was one point three hours ago,” a voice interrupted.

“Mommy!” the child exclaimed happily while both Malcolm and Trip released simultaneous breathes of relief.

“Ah, T’Pol, ya came just in time. We were tellin’ ‘Lanna a bedtime story--“

“A story that has taken one point three hours to tell?” T’Pol inquired, as she walked over to her daughter’s bedside.

“Well, no. Hey, Mal, ya wanna help me out here?” Trip demanded.

With a sigh, Reed continued. “We had already told her two stories, but we agreed to one final story and er. . .”

At his hesitation, T’Pol raised an eyebrow. “What story did you wish to hear, my daughter?” she asked the child.

“I want to know where I come from and how I came to be.”

Even T’Pol’s Vulcan training had not prepared her for this. Momentarily she paused before sitting down on the edge of T’Lanna’s bed. Absently, she ran her fingers through her daughter’s dark blonde locks, smoothing the hair behind perfectly pointed Vulcanoid ears. Then, perfectly imitating the gesture the eight year old had made just moments earlier, T’Pol took a deep breathe and squared her shoulders.

“If that is the story you wish, then it is the story you shall have,” T’Pol said after a moment. “However, I shall not be telling it alone. Your fathers will assist me in the task,” she added, glancing in turn to both Malcolm and Trip.

Ah, hell. That’s T’Pol’s pissed look. We’re gonna get it after this is over, Trip thought to himself. Not daring to further irritate the mother of his daughter, Trip took a seat the end of T’Lanna’s bed.

Bloody hell, this is all Tucker’s fault, Malcolm thought to himself. I told him she only needed two stories. Still, Malcolm also knew when to admit defeat, and thus, sat down on the opposite side of the bed.

Seeing that they were appropriately settled, T’Pol turned back to T’Lanna and began to speak.

“Eight years, ten months, three weeks and two-point five days ago, The Enterprise encountered the Gabbaccia ship . . . “

---

Well, that’s all for now, because the muse is tired. Hope it wasn’t too confusing. Although it’s the first chapter, and not a lot has been explained, so some of it will be confusing as I couldn’t spell everything out right away. In a nutshell-T’Lanna is the daughter of T’Pol, Malcolm and Trip. And in this universe, Malcolm and Trip are straight.

Continued in Chapter 2

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