Author's Note: Here is my take on the episode Twilight. It's AU bc I place Trip in the hallway when the anomaly comes through, T'Pol is his caretaker and Archer is still on Enterprise. Paramount owns all of the characters and I don't make a dime from this. If you read it, review it!

XXX

Trip's eyes fluttered open and then shut again. He took a deep breath and smelled incredibly clean air, for once. He'd have to thank Hess for whatever she did with the filters. He turned his head to the left, feeling his sore neck release a little with the stretch. When he opened his eyes, he noted that the wall at the back of his bunk looked different; that there was another pillow next to him that looked like it had just been slept on. He righted his head position and noticed, in his sleep haze, that the ceiling above his bunk also looked different.

"What the…" he stammered before he sat up and noticed a weariness about his body that was unusual.

"Last time I was this tired…" he thought carefully, wondering why it felt the same as that time, but he couldn't remember anything.

He looked around his quarters and realized they weren't his. Rising from his bed he walked to a nearby window and looked outside to see lush vegetation.

"Where am I?" Trip asked rather loudly.

"Trip!" A familiar voice called from another room. "I'll be right there."

Trip took a few steps toward the open door and was surprised by the image of a very different T'Pol before him. She had her hair in a long braid that was falling over her shoulder, was dressed in causal clothing, and seemed to have a calmness and peace about hers that he hadn't ever witnessed.

"T'Pol?" Trip asked as she squinted at her.

"I apologize, you woke earlier than usual," she said by way of explanation.

"I'm sorry, what?" Trip asked.

"Come have some breakfast and I'll…"

"First off, where are we?" Trip inquired as she went to step out of the room.

"Ceti Alpha 5," T'Pol said simply.

"Mama, I forgot my…" a small girl said as she walked in through the front door and looked at them surprised.

"Have a good day at school," T'Pol said as she eyed the lunch bag sitting on the floor and directed her daughter toward it.

"You have a daughter?" Trip asked, shocked.

"I do," T'Pol said with a nod as she watched her daughter wave at the door and shut it behind her.

"How old is she?" Trip asked as he looked around the house.

"She's six years and 4 months," T'Pol explained.

"What? Why didn't you tell me about her?" Trip asked, his anxiety growing.

"I have," T'Pol sighed.

"I think I'd remember if you had a daughter," Trip said. "Why are we on a planet and not the ship?"

"Have a seat," T'Pol said as she walked toward the window and saw her daughter walking with the morning babysitter to school.

"I'm kinda wonderin' how we got from the corridor to this place," Trip said, refusing to sit. "In fact, I'm actually starting to panic and…"

"Do you remember when the anomaly hit while we were in the corridor?"

"Yeah," Trip said.

"You pushed me out of the way and were hit with it," T'Pol started.

"T'Pol, you're starting to worry me…"

"The anomaly hit you and some interspatial parasites have affected your memory," T'Pol continued. "Everyday you wake not remembering any time between the anomaly and that day."

"What?" Trip asked as he sat heavily on a chair.

"I explain this to you each morning when you wake," T'Pol added.

"What?" Trip asked, shaking his head from side to side.

"And everyday around this time you start to look around our home wondering if everyone is going to jump out and yell surprise right now," T'Pol added.

Trip was looking around as she spoke and, suddenly, his eyes locked on hers. "Not a joke? Not a surprise?"

T'Pol shook her head in the negative slowly.

"Wait," Trip said as he leaned forward onto his knees. "Our home?"

"We stayed aboard Enterprise for five years, but then joined the colonists here about seven years ago," T'Pol explained.

"Colonists?"

"Trip," T'Pol sighed and placed a hand on his arm before she spoke. "We were unable to meet the Xindi in time and Earth was destroyed."

"Destroyed? Like…gone?" Trip asked.

"There are six thousand humans living in this colony with us," T'Pol explained. "There are two more Earth colonies, but most of humanity is dead."

He gasped and dropped his head into his hands.

"I'm sorry," T'Pol said honestly.

In the twelve years that she'd been telling him this story he had cried 92.67% of the time. Sometimes it was loud sobs, sometimes soft tears, the times he didn't cry worried her the most.

"Trip, I know this is a lot to take in," T'Pol said. "I will contact Jonathan for your morning call and then we can enjoy the rest of our day together."

"Enjoy the day when almost everyone I know is dead?" He asked as he raised his tear-streaked face to look at her.

"I can't do anything about the loss, about your illness, or about the situation we live in," T'Pol said kindly. "But I can make each day a good one for you."

"They're really all gone?" Trip confirmed.

"I'm sorry, but yes," T'Pol nodded.

They sat in silence for about five minutes before he broke the silence.

"You've been taking care of me for 12 years?" Trip asked her, astounded.

"I have," T'Pol said. "At first on Enterprise, then here with the colonists."

"Why?" Trip asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong, but that's a huge commitment to make to…"

"It could have been me," T'Pol said.

"But it wasn't, you've moved here with your daughter to care for me and…"

It was then that he started to think about T'Mir's age and how long she said they'd lived in this colony. The realization rarely happened this early in their day, it was usually after the call to Jonathan. But then again, T'Mir had not been present when he woke since she was a baby. When she was a baby, one of the first pieces of information T'Pol shared was about their child; she didn't tell him about Earth until closer to lunch time. For the last few years, T'Mir's morning babysitter took her before Trip woke each day to ease the transition.

"Wait, your daughter is six?"

"Yes," T'Pol said.

"And we've been living here for seven years?"

"Yes," T'Pol replied.

"Where's her father?" Trip asked as he looked around.

"He is sitting with me, right now," T'Pol said as she watched for his reaction; she hoped today it was a good one.

In 2.12% on the instances when he'd discovered they shared a daughter, he had accused her of taking advantage of him. In 4.9% of the instances, he had required DNA evidence. But most of the time, he'd merely been baffled until she explained.

"I experienced pon farr seven years ago while we were aboard Enterprise and, at the time, you and I were…close. When it happened, you assisted me and, surprisingly, I became pregnant with T'Mir." T'Pol summarized.

In truth, it was far more complicated. On the night her pon farr unexpectedly began, she had risen from bed to leave him and go see Phlox about medication to quell the onset. When he woke as well, and found her in this state, he'd convinced her that he could get her through the pon farr. They'd been a couple for over a year at that point and weren't strangers to each other, but, in her pon farr induced state, she hadn't been thinking clearly.

So, she had acquiesced and become pregnant in the process. For two months she wrestled with whether she should keep the child of terminate it. Everyday she explained the circumstance to him and 96.3% of the time he said they should keep the child. So, she had. There were months where he would wake to a pregnant T'Pol incredibly confused, the two weeks that she had to leave him in the care of Jonathan to safely deliver T'Mir on Denobula, and the day she had to run with T'Mir from their home because he was destroying everything he could get his hands on. It was usually a good life; but a complicated one.

"T'Mir? That's her name?" Trip asked gently.

"T'Mir after my foremother, and Elizabeth after your sister," T'Pol explained.

"Does she know I'm…?"

"Yes, she calls you daddy and she knows you have a memory issue and sometimes get confused," T'Pol said kindly. "You and she usually spend time after school constructing miniature ships."

"And we're married?" Trip asked.

"No, we didn't ever formalize our relationship," T'Pol said.

"Maybe we should? It seems like T'Mir should have parents who are married," Trip said as he looked at her carefully. "We're happy?"

He suggested marriage 51.8% of the time.

"We are, but tomorrow you may feel differently about marriage," T'Pol said softly.

"What's tomorrow?"

"Today we are going back to Enterprise to perform a procedure to restore your memory," T'Pol said. "You need to have breakfast, because Yazan is picking you up soon to go to work."

"This procedure…?"

"It should reverse the damage and restore your memory," T'Pol explained. "Phlox has been working on this treatment on Denobula for as long as we have lived in the colony. He's confident it will work."

"And you think I won't want to marry you after tomorrow?" Trip asked.

"I didn't say that," T'Pol explained. "Only that you may want to option to choose, once your entire future is ahead of you."

Trip sat and looked between her and his hands for several minutes, not talking. It was a lot to take in; Earth destroyed, a daughter, a relationship, a colony and…and he wouldn't remember any of what she told him tomorrow. Finally, he looked up at her and saw his silence was making her feel uncomfortable.

"What do I do?" Trip asked, surprising her. 75.38% of the time he didn't ask about his job until Yazan arrived or Jonathan mentioned it.

"Mostly small engine repairs. You assist with electronics that are malfunctioning," T'Pol said. "You work mornings."

"And in the afternoon?" Trip enquired.

"You help me around our home, read, do puzzles, take things apart…"

"Are YOU happy?" He asked her as he watched her closely.

He'd not asked that question in 54 days.

"I am," T'Pol nodded.

"How can you be with…with me like this?" Trip asked. "And when did we start to…?"

"I am happy with you, regardless of the situation," T'Pol admitted. "When did we start to engage in sexual relations of become involved?"

Trip furrowed his forehead and let out a quick breath through his nostrils.

"Both, I guess," he said softly.

T'Pol looked at him and gave him a small smile which she knew would shock him. She liked the days when he wanted to discuss them more than he wanted to ask for all the details of earth's destruction. It usually, 96.43% of the time, meant a much more pleasant day for her family.

"Three years after the accident, you started to show an…interest. At first, I thought it was fleeting, but then day after day you showed the same level of interest in becoming involved. I spoke with Jonathan about…"

"Wait, you spoke with Jon about me flirting with you?" Trip interrupted.

"I needed his advice about how to best proceed as I didn't wish to take advantage of your compromised state but you were…insistent."

"I'm sorry, T'Pol, I didn't…"

"You have nothing to apologize for, I was…interested as well."

"Oh," Trip said, taken aback.

"So, we pursued a romantic relationship day-by-day for about a year, and then pursued a sexual relationship after that," T'Pol explained. "Despite your lack of memory, your body remembered that we were involved and related to me on a more intimate level as if we'd always been lovers. Phlox thought it was fascinating that…"

"Wait, Phlox monitored our sex life?" Trip asked, surprised.

"No," T'Pol said plainly. "I just noted to him and Jonathan that when we engaged in sexual relations, you didn't act like it was our first encounter. You had intimate knowledge of my body and my preferences that…stayed with you. We actually explored muscle memory in the lab with you for a year, seeing if we could get you to remember facts if they were tired to an action."

"It didn't work?" Trip asked.

"No, there was something different about sexual relations that we couldn't ever tie to other memory," T'Pol admitted.

"And we've continued this relationship?" Trip asked. "I felt…sore this morning."

"My pon farr has returned," T'Pol explained. "So, our activities have been more vigorous the last two days. But yes, we continue to have a sexual relationship most days."

"Could you get pregnant again?" Trip asked as he leaned forward and touched her hand. He wasn't sure how he felt about another child; he'd just discovered he had a daughter.

He rarely initiated this sort of physical connection so early in the day. T'Pol found it intriguing he was deviating so much from his normal patterns so early in their interaction.

"No," T'Pol said plainly. "I am taking strong medication that quells my symptoms for much of the day and we are both on enhanced contraceptives."

Trip nodded sadly and closed his eyes.

"But you want another child?" He asked, knowing the answer somehow.

"I do," T'Pol said. "But not until you are well."

"Your next pon farr is in seven years," Trip noted. "I'll be in my fifties."

"Phlox thinks he can start an artificial pon farr for us when, and if, we are ready," T'Pol said as she looked at him carefully. "I am happy with T'Mir, and repairing the damage to your memory is paramount in our lives more so than…"

"I'm sorry I screwed up your life," Trip said as he looked into her eyes.

"I have spent years with a man I care for who has given me a wonderful daughter, there was no sacrifice on my behalf," T'Pol admitted.

Trip looked at her confused; how, after all this, could she say that?

"You can talk to Jonathan, yes?" T'Pol asked.

"T'Mir is at school?" Trip asked.

"Until 14:00 and then her babysitter returns her," T'Pol explained.

"What's she like?" Trip asked.

T'Pol looked at him slightly amazed; he had not asked about T'Mir's personality this early in the day in 111 days.

"She is incredibly intelligent, has your eyes, my ears, is slightly mischievous, but you assure me that all human children are, and she will outgrow it," T'Pol said as she met his eyes. "She loves to create structures, her best friend is a young boy who lives two homes over named Pierre, and she helps me in my studio."

"Your studio?" Trip asked, intrigued.

"I create clay pots, bowls, urns, cups…it is how we help the community," T'Pol explained. "T'Mir is very talented at hand building mugs."

"Really? Your own little artist's studio and everything?" Trip asked with a smile on his face.

"You and Yazan do repairs, I create clay household items, Pierre's mom is the school teacher, there are others who are plumbers, farmers, doctors…we all work together as a community sharing resources and talent."

"It sounds well-planned," Trip said.

"A lot of work was put into discovering this planet and organizing its citizens," T'Pol explained. "Jonathan can explain more to you, if you like?"

"I speak with him each day?" Trip asked. "How's he with…with us?"

She looked at him confused.

"He had something for you, at least how I remember it, from when you came on board," Trip stammered. "I always steered clear because…"

"I sensed the Captain's attraction to me early in our mission," T'Pol said honestly. "But I didn't reciprocate it. He turned his attention toward another."

"Jon?" Trip asked surprised.

"He and Lieutenant Hess have two children," T'Pol explained. "They stayed on board Enterprise with their parents."

"Anna?!" Trip asked astounded.

"They seem very happy," T'Pol noted.

"How many other have…?"

"Most," T'Pol said as she opened a nearby screen and started to type in a code. "Many humans see it as their duty to re-populate your species."

"I can see that," Trip muttered.

"T'Mir is only half human," T'Pol noted. "I didn't want to limit you to…me, if you ever received your memory back."

Trip looked at her confused.

"In case you wanted a human mate," T'Pol clarified.

"T'Pol, there's no way I would…"

"Please don't make any promises you cannot keep," T'Pol said before she turned to screen to face him and Trip saw Jon's face appear.

"Trip!" Jon said happily. "Nice to see you!"

"Jon," Trip said as he eyed T'Pol. "I've been told we do this everyday?"

"We do," Jon chuckled.

"And that you are married to the new Chief Engineer?" Trip asked as he watched Jon look quickly at T'Pol.

"He knows a lot of personal information today," T'Pol supplied.

"Yes, Anna and I have Kiera and Fred and another on the way," Jon said somewhat bashfully. No matter how many times he told Trip about his family, it always felt awkward updating Trip on a life that Jon lived each day.

"Who else is still up there with you?" Trip asked.

"Almost everyone, except T'Pol and some crew that decided to raise their kids on the colony," Jon explained. "Hoshi and Malcolm work the day shift and go down to the colony each night with their kids."

"Mal and Hoshi?" Trip asked.

"Yes, they have three little ones," Jon explained. "The twins Hero and Filla, and their oldest boy Malcolm Jr."

Trip chuckled, leave it to Malcolm to have a child named after him.

"It's a lot to take in," Trip said as he rubbed at his temple.

"He knows about…?" Jon asked.

"T'Mir was here this morning," T'Pol explained to Jonathan.

"Your daughter is a pistol Trip," Jon smiled at his friend. "Can dance around math equations that baffle me and she speaks fluent English, Spanish and Vulcan."

"She does?" Trip asked as he looked toward T'Pol.

"Her babysitter is Spanish," T'Pol supplied.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around…around all this," Trip sighed.

"Well, hopefully it's the last day," Jon smiled. "T'Pol told you about the procedure?"

"Not the details, just that it could restore my memory," Trip explained.

"So, this may be our last conversation and you can give Anna a break from the engines," Jon chuckled. "We're long overdue for a honeymoon and if you and T'Pol come back for a bit, we'll get it."

Trip smiled at his friend; the one he was still trying to picture with Anna Hess who was twenty years his junior.

"So, tell me how you picked this planet?" Trip asked.

"Ah, that's a long story, but I'll try and shorten it," Jon started. He then went on to describe the need for a colony as crew members started to pair off and have children. Then he explained the need to people to feel some affiliation for another planet, since theirs was lost. He described all the research that went into choosing this particular planet for their needs and the planets they dismissed in the process.

When Yazan knocked on the door at 10am, Trip was still asking questions about the Xindi attack.

"He's asking a lot of questions this morning," T'Pol said to him as he entered their home.

"Yesterday he asked a great deal about Starfleet, more so than usual," Yazan nodded.

T'Pol nodded.

T'Pol walked over to Trip and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Trip, Yazan is here."

Trip turned to see an older Saudi man standing nearby.

"I think I gotta go Jon," Trip said. "What time are we coming aboard to fix my brain?"

"I think Phlox will be ready for you about 18:00 hours," Jon smiled at his friend. "Not that I don't like talking to you everyday, but I look forward to just having Trip back."

"I'm sure you're not the only one," Trip said as he looked over his shoulder at T'Pol.

They ended the call and Trip turned to introduce himself to Yazan.

"I'm sure this seems weird to you, but I'm Trip Tucker," Trip said extending his hand.

"Yazan Sharif," the older man said as he took Trip's hand and shook it.

"You and I repair electronics?" Trip asked.

"We do," Yazan nodded. "And today we have a condenser that is broken in Pearl's house."

"Okay," Trip nodded as he stood from his stool. "Do you need me to get..?"

"Everything is in my cart," Yazan explained. "I'll meet you outside."

He left their home and Trip looked around taking in all the pictures and artifacts that he didn't have any memory of.

T'Pol touched his back and he relaxed instantly. She walked him toward their bedroom and pulled out some underwear, shorts and a shirt from his set of drawers and handed them to him. Trip reluctantly started to change out of his pajama bottoms and pull on his clean clothes.

"I know this is hard," T'Pol said. "You will be home by noon meal and I can explain more then. But we have discovered, giving you a project to occupy your mind early in the day, makes you less…volatile."

Trip pivoted on his heel and looked at her shocked. He stood before her in his clean underwear and shorts.

It was then that he noticed a faint scar on her chin.

He reached out and touched the scar cautiously.

"Did I do that?" He asked, half scared of what her answer may be.

"You had some difficulty adjusting to the colony," T'Pol explained.

"T'Pol…" he begged.

"Yes," she admitted.

His head dropped to his chest and he wiped at his eyes. He promised he would never raise a hand to his wife, like his father had, and here he was…a wife abuser.

"God," Trip groaned as he rubbed at his eye sockets. "Maybe you and T'Mir would be better off without me."

"I don't believe that to be true," T'Pol noted.

He hadn't asked about her scar in over a year. The last time he asked, she lied and said she fell. She wished this time she'd done the same thing.

"Have I hurt you a…a…lot?" Trip asked.

"You didn't know you were…"

"Don't justify what I did," Trip said as he met her eyes with a cold glare.

"In twelve years, there have been 19 incidents when your anger at your situation got out of control," T'Pol informed him. "In three of those incidents you harmed me; in the other sixteen you only harmed yourself."

"Three?" He asked as he stepped toward her and looked at her up and down.

She then felt him touch her chin.

"My chin, this cut," T'Pol said as she lifted her shirt and showed him another scar. "And a concussion."

Trip doubled over and took deep breaths. It was like re-living his childhood.

"You have also tried to end your life nine times," T'Pol said softly. "I considered those the worst days."

"T'Pol, how can you…?"

"The chin was because I was trying to take a knife away from you and you pushed me hard into a wall," T'Pol continued. "You did this."

She pushed his sleeve up slightly and showed him a scar from a self-inflicted wound.

"The cut on my stomach was when you lashed out at me with a knife. I ran from our home with T'Mir," T'Pol explained. "That day, you did scare me."

Trip nodded and swallowed hard.

"And the concussion…you tried to hang yourself and I pulled you loose," T'Pol explained as she touched a mark on his neck. "When I pulled you down you fell on top of me. Luckily, we were still on Enterprise and Phlox assisted with your medical care."

"T'Pol, I…have I apologized for what I have done?" Trip asked.

"You have," she said softly.

"I can't…I'm so sorry for any pain I've cause you or T'Mir…I haven't harmed her, have I?" Trip gasped.

"No, you'd never harm T'Mir," T'Pol said softly.

"But I harmed you," Trip said as he stepped forward and, lifting her shirt slightly, caressed her stomach.

"Once, intentionally," T'Pol said as she met his eyes. "Once."

He dropped his forehead onto her shoulder and started to cry.

She caressed the back of his head for several minutes before she pulled away. "I'll tell Yazan, not today."

Trip wiped at his face and nodded in agreement.

"Lay down and I'll be right back," T'Pol said kindly before she left their bedroom.

Trip pulled on the shirt she'd chosen for him and lay down on the bed, his head spinning with this new knowledge of himself.

He heard a door open and then close and started to look around their bedroom. It was sparse and there was only one picture of T'Mir on the dresser. The bedding was soft, the mattress comfortable, and the light good.

He heard the door open again and T'Pol's soft footfalls coming toward the bedroom. She crawled into bed next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Trip was taken aback by her level of comfort with him; but after twelve years he guessed, they were incredibly comfortable with each other.

"The first time you held T'Mir you cried," T'Pol said softly. "You cry less now as she gets older. You sing her these Earth songs that I am unfamiliar with. They are about elephants and caterpillars and bobbing boats."

Trip chuckled and wrapped his arm around her back.

"You have asked me to marry you 431 times," T'Pol said with a small smile. "And, we have made love two thousand and sixty-four times."

"That's…that's pretty active," Trip chuckled.

"At some point, almost every day, we have sexual relations," T'Pol said.

"You have good friends, are a wonderful partner, and an amazing father 97.48% of the time," T'Pol said softly. "I prefer to focus on those times and you should as well."

Trip nodded. "But I've tried to kill myself?"

"You have," T'Pol said as she drew circles on his chest. "Unsuccessfully."

"It sounds like you had a lot to do with my lack of success," Trip said quietly.

She said nothing in return.

They lay in each other's arms for the rest of the morning while T'Pol shared stories with him of their life together. He couldn't forget about what he'd put her through and hoped when Phlox met up with them tonight, it would be the last day T'Pol and T'Mir had to wake up with him like this.

"What are the risks with this procedure?" Trip asked.

"Significant brain damage," T'Pol said softly. "More memory loss. Death."

"Sounds like a barrel of monkeys," Trip said, worried. "But the benefit is that we could have a better life?"

"You can have a better life," T'Pol clarified. "I will not limit you."

Trip furrowed his eyebrows.

"You honestly think I would abandon my wife and child?" Trip asked.

"I am not your wife," T'Pol clarified. "And given an opportunity to create a different future, one possibly involving human children, you cannot limit yourself."

"Are you kidding me?" Trip asked her surprised as he shifted so he could look at her face better.

"I don't doubt you will remain involved in T'Mir's life…" T'Pol began.

"You are willing to risk losing me?" Trip asked.

"If you are better? It is a risk I am willing to take," T'Pol said as she met his eyes.

He looked at her confused.

"Do you love me?" Trip asked.

"Vulcans do not…"

"Cut the crap," Trip huffed. "Do. You. Love. Me?"

T'Pol looked at him taken aback. He'd only asked her this ten other times in the twelve years they had been together.

T'Pol nodded her head in the affirmative.

Trip swallowed and smiled at her.

"Well darlin," he said as he pulled her a little tighter. "Memory or not, I know I love you. So, you and T'Mir are stuck with me."

T'Pol said nothing in return and merely laid her head on his chest again.

XXX

"Daddy?" T'Mir asked cautiously as she approached her father.

"Hi baby girl," Trip smiled at her and extended his hands to bring her in for a hug. T'Pol had explained enough about his daughter that Trip could read her the moment she walked into the room.

T'Mir immediately walked into his embrace and buried her head in his shoulder. "Mama says you have a surgery tonight?"

"I do," Trip smiled at her. "I am going to be all better and then we can do more things together."

T'Mir looked at him worried. "We can still finish the M-Class Cruiser?"

T'Pol stepped forward when Trip looked confused.

"Yes, you can finish the structure with your father tonight and begin a new one in a few days, once he is well." T'Pol said as she cupped the back of her daughter's head. "Even when he is well, he will still build ships with you."

"Good," T'Mir smiled at her father and snuggled into him again.

Trip squeezed her tight and never wanted to let go.

He spent some of the afternoon finishing the M-Class Cruiser with T'Mir while T'Pol made dinner; apparently, he was vegetarian now. He discovered that T'Mir was smart, inquisitive and (as T'Pol had described) mischievous. She also said a few words with his accent like somethin' and ain't. And he was sure the phrase 'gimme a break' did not come from T'Pol. But, like her mother, she was incredibly logical and moved with cat-like grace. She was a perfect blend of the two of them and Trip swore, if the surgery was successful, they were going to give her brothers and sisters to play with.

When they sat down to eat together as a family Trip's voice caught in this throat. If the surgery went ass-backwards he'd never be like this, with them, ever again.

"You know I love you T'Mir, right?" Trip asked his daughter.

T'Mir looked toward her mother concerned.

T'Pol nodded that it was okay, her father was fine.

"I know," T'Mir said as she met her father's eyes. "I love you as well, daddy."

Trip smiled at her very proper declaration.

"Are you concerned your surgery will lead to your death?" T'Mir asked as she lifted a fork with a bean on it to her mouth.

"T'Mir!" T'Pol cautioned.

"It seems he is concerned about that mama," T'Mir said calmly to her mother.

"Your father will be fine," T'Pol reassured her daughter. "His surgery will be a success."

"I hope so," T'Mir said with a sing-song voice.

"I hope so too," Trip said as he took her small hand in his.

XXX

TBC