Parenting: A New Voyage

Author's note: Okay, to start off, I have seen very little of the original Star Trek series, therefore I know little about it. I'm basing all of this from the 2009 film. I hope you

"Mama!" The nearly two-year old Orion grinned, toddling in the direction of the open door.

"Orion!" Nyota grinned back, setting her small parcel down on the table. She scooped the baby into her arms and gave him a kiss. "Mama missed your little baby body." She frowned slighty, rolling her eyes, and removed his thumb from his mouth. "Remember what Mama and Daddy said about thumbs? Where do they not go?"

"Mouf," Orion answered sheepishly. He turned his head, pointing in the opposite direction. "Daddy?"

"Where is Daddy?" Nyota asked, setting him down. "What's Daddy doing?" She followed her son into the small den of their cabin living quarters and almost laughed.

"Daddy seep," Orion said. "Mama, Daddy seep."

Sure enough, Spock was asleep. Sprawled out on the living room floor, face door, snoring slightly. He was surrounded by various toys, books, papers, clothes, and a small tag-a-long blanket was flimsily draped over his back. Orion squatted down and patted him. "Nigh-night, Daddy."

Nyota wasn't upset. She'd just spoke with him five minutes before over the intercom just to ask how things were going. Spock was never opposed to keeping watch over Orion by himself, but it rarely happened. Nyota and her husband often worked the same shifts, usually leaving Orion in the care of the hired nanny to care for him until they returned in the evening.

"Baby?" Nyota sat down and nudged Spock's lanky frame with her foot. "Spock?"

"Mm...?" He raised his head slightly, blinking heavily.

"I'm back," Nyota said quietly. "You want to get up? Go to the bed?"

Spock only continued to blink lazily, staring into space. Without a word, he put his head back down and closed his eyes. Nyota laughed this time and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "Spock! Honey, go to bed. Wake up. Come on." She shook him.

Commander Spock to everyone on board was so composed and proper, it almost amused Nyota. It was times like this, shaking him awake from the floor, that reminded her that he was just as flawed as everybody else. And she adored that about him. Only she and Orion really got to see it. She shook him a few more times and he finally sat up and stretched.

"Daddy!" Orion grinned.

Spock smiled sleepily and leaned over to stroke the boy's neatly-trimmed hair. He stood up, taking the child with him. Nyota smiled at the pair. "So how was he?"

"We had a productive day," Spock replied neutrally. "I still fail to comprehend the recreational activity Let's Pretend." He frowned skeptically. "As well as the early youth's entertainment icon Elmo."

Nyota grinned again, moving around the kitchen to prepare dinner. "Dearest, Elmo has been around since...well, before my time. And what do you not like about 'Let's Pretend'?"

Let's Pretend was a game Orion had created and been playing since he could toddle. It wasn't so much a game as it was him creating imaginary scenarios and making others act them out. Nyota found it hilarious everytime Spock got involved because imaginary play was something that had not been part of his childhood. Everytime Orion told him to get on the floor and pretend to be a horse and ride him around the room, Spock only became bewildered and sometimes just plain unable to relate.

"The entire afternoon I was encouraged to hold non-exisistant conversations with Elmo over the communication device," Spock said. "And Orion insists that he can only consume his lunch in his under-dressings."

"Big boy pants," Nyota corrected him. "Remember, Daddy, we call them Big boy pants."

"Big boy pants!" Orion grinned, shoving his trousers down to show off his cotton underwear. "Mama, I went potty today! Do I get star?"

Nyota looked at Spock. "Did he really use the potty?"

Spock shook his head. He turned to Orion. "It is not acceptable to lie, Son." He glanced at Nyota. "Tell...tell Mama the truth."

Nyota sighed. "I don't know, Spock. He may just be too young. He's not even two yet."

"But the parenting guide-" Spock began.

"The parenting guide told us it would be easy to take him off the bottle," Nyota interrupted him. "The parenting guide told us he'd stop eating his own toenails. The parenting guide told us as long as he ate those awful klorbark vitamins he wouldn't get Enderian fever." She sat down in one of the three steel and glass table kitchen chairs. "The parenting guide is a load of crap."

Spock sighed. For a while he was silent, and then he said, "Perhaps he just isn't ready, like you said."

"I'm going to start dinner," his wife finally said. "Could you go get him a diaper please?"

Spock nodded solemnly. He knew Orion would not react well to retracting back to diapers. They had sat him down and given him a long speech about wearing cotton underwear and using the toilet. Nyota had created him a chart and played him songs. Spock had gotten up at strange hours of the night to check and make sure he hadn't soiled his sheets. They'd both studied toilet-training guides cover to cover. It seemed like a lot of effort to go to waste.

"Orion!" He called. "Come here please."

The toddler made his way to his bedroom where Spock stood with a diaper. He frowned. "No diaper."

Spock noted the wet spot on the front of his pants. He motioned for him to come closer. Orion shook his head. "No! Big boy pans!"

"You've soiled yourself," Spock explained. "Come here."

"NO!" Orion stomped his feet and threw his safety cup. "No, Daddy!" He slapped the air.

Wordlessly, Spock grabbed him and yanked his pants down and off. He then took off the underwear and replaced it with a diaper, all while handling his struggling son who was screaming and wailing at the top of his lungs. When he finished, he disposed of the soiled clothes in the laundry bin and watched as Orion threw himself onto the padded floor and kicked and screamed. He wondered if he'd ever done that. He wondered how his parents had reacted. His mother, he knew, would have understood. She would have waited patiently for him to stop and coaxed him into redirection. His father...

"We're going to try Big boy pants again later," Nyota said, entering the room. "You are a big boy. You're just not ready to wear the pants yet." She turned to Spock. "Just let him throw his tantrum."

Spock stared at him. "No."

"No?" Nyota stopped at the doorway. She turned around. "What do you mean 'No'?"

Spock picked Orion up. He then traveled to the little chest of drawers and retrieved some new underwear and trousers. "If you need us, we'll be in the lavatory," he told Nyota. "Please inform us when dinner is ready."

Orion sat on the toilet seat humming. Occassionally he'd reach over and wave his hand under the motion-sensor toilet paper dispenser. Spock sat on the opposite side, awkwardly positioned against the wall, his knees drawn-up. He could smell something delicious wafting down the hallway, and longed to be hovering over his wife the way he normally did, watching her prepare food, and occassionally helping her when she let him.

"Potty?" Orion spoke up, kicking his legs. "Daddy, I have to potty."

Spock raised the back of his head from the wall. "You're ready?"

Orion nodded. Spock manuevered himself to his knees and immediately noticed an issue with the situation. The only problem was, he was not sure how to addres it.

"Orion," he said, trying to pick his words carefully-precisely, the way he'd been taught. "Take your hand-" he took the little hand in his. "Put it...here... hold this down...in order to...prevent misdirection." He felt himself starting to blush. He was so glad Nyota wasn't in the room with them.

Orion did as he was told, and then let go. Spock sighed, fighting the urge to actually roll his eyes, and took the child under the arms. He used his thigh to scoot the little foot-stool closer and stood him on it. "Now we can proceed," he said. "We are of the male species, Son. The majority of our kind...we relieve ourselves standing."

"Mama says sit on the potty," Orion told him.

"That would be illogical in your case," Spock said. "And mine. And several other members, the majority of the crew members onboard." He awkwardly and patiently tried to explain the mechanisms of using the toilet, and after several minutes, Orion did it.

"I did it!" Orion said. "Look! I used the potty!"

"Boys, dinner's ready-" Nyota stopped in the doorway. "Did he just-"

Spock couldn't hide the big grin breaking out on his face. "He did."

"Oh, Orion!" Nyota leaned down and wrapped her arms around him. "Mama's so proud of you! Flush the potty, okay?"

Orion leaned forward and flushed it. "I used the potty!" He pointed at Spock. "Daddy, I used the potty."

"Dinner's ready," Nyota told them. "Have Daddy help you wash your hands, and then come eat, okay?"

"Daddy, help me?" Orion asked.

Spock nodded. "Adjust your trousers. Thank you." He picked him up and moved him to the sink.

"Tell me what you're thinking," Nyota murmered, kissing the spot just below his pointy ears.

"Do you predict Orion will grow to be like me?" Spock asked. "Conflicted and reclusive?"

Nyota smiled softly. She flopped back onto her pillows and stroked his arm. "I think he will be like you. Hopeful, courageous, caring..." she reached up to touch her index finger to his lips. "How many Vulcans do you know would sit with their children and teach them how to hold their penis so they wouldn't spray the walls?"

Spock stared at her. "We were educated in groups for personal situations." He stared into space. "I fear being half human that I might have strayed from that group at such an early age." He wondered if he'd even been able to grasp such concepts. Had he been a human toddler or vulcan?

"Human, Vulcan, Human, Vulcan..." Nyota sat up and advanced on him, forcing him down. "You're not human. You're not vulcan. You're Spock. You're First Officer. You're Daddy." She mimicked Orion's childlike tone. "Daddy, Daddy."

Spock almost grinned. Nyota leaned down and kissed him. "And I know things about you that no human or vulcan knows," she whispered. She then grinned through their lip-locking. "Do it. Come on."

"I have to decline," Spock said, kissing her back. "It takes much motivation and-"

"Do it and I'll do that thing you like," she interuppted him.

Spock raised his eyes to consider this. He then looked at her and began to growl softly, rolling his tongue behind his bare teeth. Nyota busted out into a fit of giggles as he sat up, swapping their places, growling softly and biting her. Just as things had really started to get going, their door slid open and Orion stepped in. The husband and wife broke apart, and Nyota cleared her throat. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"I throwed up," Orion said. "In my bed."

Nyota climbed out of bed, quickly slipping into a Tshirt and panties under the covers, and moved to feel his forehead. "You do feel a little warm."

Spock slid into his own sleep bottoms and joined them. Orion did seem to have a mild fever. He turned to Nyota. "I'll clean up the mess."

"Thanks." She picked the baby up. "Let's get you some medicine and something to drink. Let's wash your mouth and change your jammies."

To Be Continued...

For those who are interested, please check out the LJ link to see a pic of Orion (it's an actual photo, not a drawing. Remove the spaces): http:/ kikamontanez . livejournal . com / 37227 . html