And Baby-Ch. 15

And Baby Makes Four

By Samantha Quinn

All disclaimers in Part I.
Spoilers: “Shuttlepod One” and returned spoilers for Unexpected.

A/N: Words between // denote telepathic thoughts. Words between *** denote regular thought.

Part Fifteen

Announcements and Revelations

A/N: ugh, this turned sentimentally sloppy fast, didn’t it? I’m the slightest bit concerned some aren’t in character, but then again, neither T’Pol nor Malcolm have faced a pregnancy. And I don’t really think Trip’s counted, as it wasn’t his really. He was more of a host carrying a parasite. Or I’ve seen Aliens too many times. ;)

***********

The last of the three to awaken was T’Pol. Doctor Phlox was somewhat concerned by this development. Taking into account her condition, however, he relaxed and shooed away her very worried colleagues. The Captain, Commander Tucker, and Lieutenant Reed had reluctantly agreed to leave, after making the doctor promise to notify them the moment T’Pol awoke.

*Well,* Doctor Phlox thought hesitantly, *that may not be entirely correct, given the nature of T’Pol’s condition.*

She came to slowly, and looking a bit confused at first. Hurrying to her side, Phlox was as cheerful as he could be. “Welcome back to the Enterprise, Sub-Commander.”

The normally strong Vulcan did not attempt to raise herself immediately. Such an uncharacteristic action concerned the Denobulan. Lying still, the Sub-Commander looked at Phlox for a moment before asking softly, “We have been returned to the Enterprise?”

“Yes, Sub-Commander.”

“Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker?”

“They have been returned as well. They were in a bit better shape than you, so I allowed them to leave.”

T’Pol did not doubt the truth of the doctor’s statement. Unquestionably, both Reed and Tucker would have been more mentally sound than she was currently. As the doctor continued speaking, she attempted to force herself to listen, although she found doing so was extremely difficult. *I must meditate immediately,* she thought. Multiple images swirled in her head. Conflicting scenes of destruction and tenderness played out in her head, threatening to break T’Pol’s Vulcan reserve.

“Captain Archer mentioned something about ‘raiding a shuttlepod’ for a substance known as bourbon. Not familiar with it myself,” Phlox continued merrily.

With a contained sigh, T’Pol forced herself up into a sitting position. “It is an alcoholic substance of a rather strong magnitude, Doctor. Do I have permission to leave? I must meditate.”

“Before you go, T’Pol, there is something I must inform you of.” The doctor paused most uncharacteristically and unintentionally. Knowing T’Pol better than most of the crew, Phlox was rather certain how she would react to the news he was about to share. Turning his sharp medical gaze upon her, he remarked as casually as possible, “You are pregnant.”

The images came at once, and unbidden. Vulcan gone. Earth enslaved. Two offspring of her own genes leaders in a galactic war but on opposite sides. Galactic chaos. T’Pol ached at the thought. It took all of her Vulcan reserve to push aside such thoughts to enable her to ask of Doctor Phlox, “I assume whatever I say to you in sickbay will remain strictly confidential?”

Curious, Phlox replied immediately, “Of course it will, Sub-Commander. “

“Then I need to you scan the child’s DNA. I need to know if the father is indeed. . . Commander Tucker.”

Phlox’s curiosity was indeed piqued, but he did not question T’Pol further.

“Hmm. . .” he noted. “Most curious.”

“What is it, Doctor?” T’Pol demanded, not bothering to mask the emotion in her voice.

“I read the DNA of you and Commander Tucker, and another,” he responded.

The bleak images stopped momentarily. “Cross reference the DNA of Lieutenant Reed,” she managed.

“Indeed. Let me cross reference the sample. . . ah, yes. It appears, Sub-Commander that congratulations are in order. I do not know how this is possible, but it appears that you, Commander Tucker, and Lieutenant Reed are going to be parents.”

*Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker.* There would be no T’Vel or Alanna. Instead, it seemed, the brilliant scientist and peace maker had truly been combined into one entity.

***

It was a week later , after giving herself plenty of time for meditation, T’Pol sat waiting in her quarters for Reed and Tucker to arrive. She had asked them, cryptically, to attend dinner with her this morning at the start of alpha shift. They had both been surprised, but had agreed, both with their own unique nuances.

Reed had flushed and looked slightly embarrassed and Commander Tucker had flashed her a smirk.

Glancing at the PADD in her hand, T’Pol re-read the invitation from the High Command. The post at the Information Ministry was hers, Soval promised.

****

The news of your condition has caused some discussion on the planet.
However, the child is a scientific achievement and will do much to further medical advancement, if it survives. Regardless, the majority of the Ambassadors feel a Vulcan-human child will only further strengthen ties between our species.
It is therefore more desirable that you return to Vulcan to raise the child. A Vulcan-human hybrid with human tendencies is undesirable whereas a Vulcan-human hybrid who follows the path of Surak has intriguing possibilities.

****

T’Pol mentally winced at the wording, but a week’s worth of meditation had helped to reinforce her Vulcan shields. Something she was certain she would need when Reed and Tucker arrived.

She was not disappointed.

They arrived on time, both looking a little apprehensive about being there. She had not yet informed them of her condition. It would, undoubtedly, add to their mental unrest.

“Gentlemen, have a seat,” she offered. The food she had arranged to be specially delivered from chef was positioned on the table, waiting for them. T’Pol had been careful to arrange their seating positions in a circle. She did not want this to be a confrontational situation. Nor did she want there to be an appearance of rank.

“So, T’Pol, what’s this all about?” Trip asked, as he bit into his meatloaf. To his disgust, he noticed it was resequenced. Still, he’d been eating pretty much non-stop since they returned from the alien ship and decided he was still hungry. He began to munch.

Lieutenant Reed simply looked at her questionably. T’Pol appreciated it. There was no need here for him to repeat what Commander Tucker had already asked for. He waited patiently for T’Pol to speak.

“I have read your official reports given to the Captain concerning what occurred on the Gabbaccian ship,” she said slowly, slicing deliberately into her broccoli. It’s taste was not as pleasant as she remembered. “I have found Lieutenant, that your memory and mine coincide. Commander Tucker’s report was most interesting.

Have you have time to review it, Lieutenant?”

Malcolm frowned slightly. “No, I have not read the actual report, Sub-Commander. However, I have talked with Commander Tucker and he has shared the conversation he had with Alanna.”

T’Pol nodded. Trip sighed and set his fork down with a rather loud thud. “We know, we know, T’Pol. The Vulcan Science Directorate has determined time travel to be impossible, right?” he smirked.

“The Vulcan Science Directorate is incorrect, I believe,” T’Pol responded.

Both Trip and Malcolm looked at her in surprise. T’Pol took their silence as a motion to continue. “The memories of Alanna that were impressed upon me through the mind meld were unlikely to have been forged. If her memories were correct, then she was my child. If she was my child, then she would have had to have traveled through time. To travel through time, the Vulcan Science Directorate would have been incorrect.”

Trip and Malcolm exchanged a look. “A meld?” Malcolm questioned. “When she pressed her fingers to your face? That’s a meld?”

“Yes. It is an exchange of thoughts,” T’Pol supplied. “There is additional proof of the validity of her claims. I am pregnant.”

The silence was nearly tangible in the room when Malcolm spoke again. “Well, Commander, Sub-Commander, I suppose a congratulations is in order.”

“For you as well, Lieutenant,” T’Pol replied.

“What do you mean?” Malcolm asked, just a hint of anger to his voice. “If this whole scenario is true, my child is off being trained to plot against Earth. I hardly think a congratulations is in order, Sub-Commander.”

“The child is the product of a mixture of genes containing the DNA of myself, Commander Tucker and yourself. Based upon such evidence, I do not believe T’Vel and Alanna will develop into separate entities. Rather they have been combined.”

Another silence.

“Ya mean . . . Malcolm and me are both gonna be the fathers of this kid?” Trip managed. T’Pol could only nod.

Malcolm and Trip were both silent, considering the ramifications this had upon them, T’Pol, and the Enterprise.

“What do you intend to do?” Malcolm asked finally.

“I shall stay on board the Enterprise until the eighth month of pregnancy,” T’Pol responded. “At such a time, it is typical that a female Vulcan goes into seclusion. Much meditation is needed to prepare for childbirth.”

“How long until you return to the ship?” Trip asked.

“I shall not be returning, Commander,” she replied.

“What do ya mean, ya won’t be returning?” Trip demanded. “Ya just gonna take the kid and leave? Where do ya intend to go?” Trip’s accent thickened with each progressively angry word.

“I have been offered a position at the Vulcan Information Ministry,” T’Pol responded, handing Trip a PADD which contained the message from Soval. Malcolm read it as well and it made him distinctly uncomfortable.

It furthered Trip’s anger. “ ‘Intriguing possibilities’?” he spat. “That’s what the child is going to be? A science experiment? The kid is gonna be half human and ya intend to completely disregard-“

“I fail to see how the manner in which I intend to raise my child affects you, Commander Tucker,” T’Pol stated. The man was always irrational, but more so tonight than usual.

“YOUR child?” Trip asked in disbelief. “Did ya miss the part about it sharin’ my DNA too?”

“I am aware of that fact.”

“Then how can ya think I’d be okay with ya takin’ it and leavin’? How can ya think I’d be okay with never seein’ my kid again?”

T’Pol’s head ached. “You have not demonstrated such parental yearnings in the past. You gave up the chance to rear the Xyrillian child quite readily, as I recall. It was logical to assume-“

T’Pol was interrupted as Trip leaned forward and whispered, “That was different.” With that he left the room.

T’Pol turned to Lieutenant Reed. “I have upset him,” she stated simply.

Malcolm was still looking at the PADD which contained the message from Ambassador Soval. He answered T’Pol absently, his mind elsewhere. “Humans have a condition known as regret, Sub-Commander. You may not be familiar with it, but I’m certain Trip is.”

“Indeed?” she did not need to prod further. Perhaps Commander Tucker had not disregarded the incident as she had believed.

“When we were on the shuttlepod, Trip and I. . . and we thought we were going to die, Trip was certain we were not. I asked him how he could be so certain. Do you know what he replied?”

T’Pol waited steadily.

“He said, ‘I'm confident there will be a Charles Tucker the Fourth one day.’ Family, and children are very important to him, Sub-Commander. He will not give in easily if you intend to raise the child away from us.”

T’Pol processed that information. Privately, she was pleased. Families were very important to Vulcans. “And what are your. . . feelings. . . on the matter, Lieutenant?”

Reed was quiet for a moment before he re-processed the information. “I have been thinking of T’Vel,” he said finally. “What Trip told me, along with what was said on the Gabbaccian ship. I gather she must have had a rather unhappy childhood.”

T’Pol wondered what the relevance was of this story to their current situation, in which there would not be a T’Vel. Regardless, she allowed him to continue.

“She must have endured rigorous military training. No time for fun, no expressions of love. All work and no play. Must have made T’Vel a very unhappy little girl.” The man saying these words was not the same rigid lieutenant that stood on the bridge every day. His shoulders were slumped and his voice somewhat quiet.

“I suppose that to be true, Lieutenant,” she agreed. “However, I am not certain what that has to do with our current situation.”

“I imagine it will be the same for her on Vulcan, if she is viewed for having ‘intriguing possibilities,’” Malcolm said simply. “I had a similar childhood, Sub-Commander. I do not wish . . . will not allow a similar occurrence for my own child. Raising it with Vulcan values is one thing, but it is quite another to submit her to being little more than a living . . .” Malcolm trailed off, at a loss for words.

It was not like the Lieutenant to be as openly emotional as he currently was. T’Pol mentally wondered at the capacity of humans to display such emotional bonding to an entity they had known about for less than an hour. It concerned her and was certainly proof that humans were unstable creatures.

*But the child will be cared for in their presence,* came the thought.

It was then that T’Pol knew the truth. She would not remain on the Enterprise, as there was no place on the starship for a child. Yet, she could not return to Vulcan, as there was no place on that planet for either Lieutenant Reed or Commander Tucker.

She was not certain exactly what the future would hold at that point. But beyond a shadow of a doubt, she knew that the three of them would face it together.

****

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