A imagen y semejanza, English Version by FantasmaAlineal.

Thanks, to my fabulous BETA, T'Key'la.

Chapter 1: Critical Point

Starting from the end...

"¡Wakati huu ni juu, ya kuua, umwagaji… damu bastards!"

/ "I'll kill both of you, bloody bastards, I swear ...as soon as this is over, I'll kill you..."/

"She said that?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "My knowledge of Swahili is correct, Dr. McCoy."

Bones turned to Uhura again, shaking his head. "Your death threats have no effect now, dear ...There is no anesthetic to stop pain in the smooth muscles zone... and it's too late for a caesarean section, so if you would like this show to end soon, and I swear, I want that too, open your legs wide and *push!*"

Jim, in the nearest corner, was trying to control everything at once: nausea, nerves, and the feeling that haunted him when things were about to go wrong. If he didn't know, from Selek, that everything would work, he would have lost his last ounce of confidence. Not that he didn't trust Bones or Spock, hell, no! Even Uhura had proved her friendship to a degree that he would never have expected.

It was the doubt that had been eating him inside over the months, having been an abused child and cheerfully hated by many stepFathers. What kind of Father would he be? Did he have the ability to be a good Father? The situation gave him the creeps, worse than if he were facing a ship full of Klingons alone. What would George Kirk have done in his place? Selek insisted that his Father, in his own timeline, had always been proud of him.

But this "him" was not "the other Jim." He was a sum of misfortune, very well covered by his enormous arrogance and his insufferable self-confidence, masks as perfect as Spock's.

A hand was rested on his shoulder. The last person he would ever have expected. Ambassador Sarek looked as impassive as ever, and it was the difference between his and Spock's gesture that made him realize that Spock was also nervous. But the pokerfaced bastard concealed it perfectly. Damn Vulcan education! How could they stay so calm?

"James, it would be logical rather than just participate as spectators, you and S'chn T'gai can give a little help ..."

Sarek rarely mentioned the Vulcan name of his only son. Spock approached both: Bones had already used his hypospray to partially stun the howling Uhura, who was still in full labour.

"What do you suggest, Father?"

Sarek raised an eyebrow slightly. "The logical thing. The pain belongs to all three. I believe if you divide it by three, it will be easier for her ... and for Dr. McCoy."

Spock nodded, understanding. Jim stared at the two Vulcans, his manner that of that has just swallowed the canary.

"No ... I'm not sure I understand."

"It is simple," said Spock. And without waiting for a response from Jim, took him by the wrist and the two men approached the biobed.

Bones screamed. "Get out of here, sadistic perverts! You think this is funny? You and your damn green hobgoblin and his damned ideas for having children and ..."

"Shut up, Bones ... Ambassador Sarek is behind you," Jim gestured with his eyes to McCoy and the doctor tried to limit his emotions, to be like the sterile hull.

Uhura was barely conscious, but that did not mean that the contractions had stopped. McCoy kicked himself mentally; his calculations were wrong, and now instead of a simple C-section he was involved in a complicated delivery, along with Uhura, and if he could have been linked to all of them, maybe his medical training could have worked more efficiently.

He needed a good shot of whiskey. Or maybe two.

Spock led Jim to the other side of the biobed, so that everyone stood to the side of Uhura, then with his left hand, located the meld points on Nyota's face and told Jim to do the same.

"But ... I'm not a telepath!"

"You're connected to me, T'hy'la..." Spock looked Jim straight in the eye and Jim had to hold his breath. He hated when Spock did that, looked at him like a helpless puppy; that was absolutely fake, he knew that. However, it managed to overcome him and secure his love for his spouse at the same time. Damn, how Jim loved him. Spock reached with his other hand and touched Jim's fingertips in the traditional Vulcan kiss, os'zhesta, between Satel-su, and Jim could feel the familiar buzz inside his brain, which was pleasant and made him feel complete ... and little by little, it was drifting in waves down toward the front of his stomach, just above to his waist ...

Suddenly, he felt it. It was as if someone had kicked his belly, without giving him time to raise his guard and let the air out. Spock paled a little more. So he too had felt it. Every twitch, every contraction of Uhura's muscles, was felt by them, exactly the same as Uhura felt them. Nyota returned to consciousness to see both faces - anxious, cold, and sweaty as her own. Amazingly, although she could still feel the contractions, the pain had diminished to a bearable minimum.

McCoy considered the situation. "I don't know what kind of evil witchcraft you're doing ... but it's working, so go ahead ... Uhura, honey, please don't forget to breathe, OK?"

Nyota just nodded again and took both their hands ... completing the connection. It relaxed her and in some way, made her a bit sleepy. Distantly, she heard the little cry, like the mewling of two kittens. She could see that Spock held not one but two babies in his arms and felt the gentle kiss of Jim on her forehead, before she heard the "thank you, Uhura" that came from Bones, and fell completely asleep.

Thirteen months ago ... Vulcan II

"I wish to reiterate to you, Spock, that it is not a personal request, but I speak on behalf of the High Council ..."

The hybrid one kept his expression impassive, his hands clasped behind his back, staring at the green landscape of Vulcan II. The Enterprise had returned to deliver a factory for potabilization of water for the colony, and while there, Spock had received an urgent call from his Father.

Although it was Vulcan tradition to select mates for their children when they reached seven years of age, the scarcity of the remaining Vulcans had stopped that from occurring at this time. And ten thousand Vulcans of all ages, many with their entire families destroyed, were hardly a good start to repopulate an entire planet or prevent the extinction of their species, given their high standards of selection and fidelity - including the cycles of Pon Farr.

That same pain over their losses of families and their entire planet made the situation worse. And many who had lost their partners were entering plak tow. If things continued as they were, soon there would be insufficient survivors to maintain the Vulcan species.

The High Council had made the fundamental and logical decision to allow couples to select for themselves, as long as the tests indicated true and real attraction pheromones, regardless of whether or not they were same-sex couples. In the latter case, the various forms of genetic manipulation designed by the Vulcan Science Academy at least on the surface of the planet, were proving successful.

"That is the reason I called you, Spock., You havebeen for some time Satel-su T'hy'la with James..."

"Three years, two months, six days, twenty-six hours, thirteen minutes and ten seconds, Father."

"Precisely. A reasonable time to prove that your relationship is stable and healthy, despite all expectations, both from humans and us. I believe that as Vulcans, both of you must make your contribution to the colonization of our world and the growth of its population."

"Jim is not a Vulcan one, Father"

"You are wrong, Spock ; under the new laws of repopulation my son, all satel-su, mates, the bonded of every one of us acquires the Vulcan nationality"

"I understand. And you are telling me that we must have a son."

"Children, not just one."

Spock was about to smile to himself. Jim had humanized him too much and he knew his Father would disapprove. He controlled his reaction before his Father saw it.

"I do not believe Jim objects to the idea of having children ... but we still must discuss it. As our duties are currently to Starfleet, and his responsibilities as captain of the Enterprise, and mine as Science officer and First Officer would not allow either of us to be..."

"Pregnant?" His Father raised a brow. "I have clearly seen these obstacles. The logical option is to talk with T'Pina."

"T'Pau's daughter?"

"Her granddaughter, to be precise. A distinguished geneticist at the Academy. She has created a method by which two Vulcans of the same sex can have children... "

"Father ... are you certain about what you're proposing?"

"Absolutely. It appears that James' human manners are clinging to you like a second skin, Spock. Your mother was human. You are not less Vulcan to my knowledge…"

"But Jim is human."

"And you, half Vulcan. Our genes can and must be saved. The sons of you and James will be like you, children of both worlds ... but with your genes, your Vulcan blood. Despite your own mixed blood, and although you did not adopt the Kohlinar, your education has been primarily Vulcan. Your human genes are recessive. They shall remain in that state until the second or third generation, and eventually the mixture will not be as aggravating as it was for you. This will help to save our species. Logically, we will need to change the first lessons of Kohlinar, and other things in the education of these new young. But the reality is that we need every Vulcan to have children... otherwise our species will become extinct Continuation of our species takes a minimum of couples likely have children in order or our species will decline"

"Eight thousand couples of fertile age are required for the continuation of Vulcan."

"Precisely: we are at a critical point. There are not ten thousand Vulcans of all ages. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. You can choose not to have children, of course. Logically, it would be unnecessarily selfish of you to say no." Sarek put a hand on his son's shoulder in a surprising show of comfort. "Did you know Ambassador Selek spoke with James about this ?"

Spock felt a slight pang of jealousy. Not that he hated his future self. It was that Spock Prime, now known as Ambassador Selek, had touched HIS Jim long before he had.. He nodded in response to his Father's statements no longer disagreeing. "Jim feels... encouraged by Selek."

"Yes, I noticed that. Of course, he has not exceeded his limits on the knowledge of your future, so as not to affect it more than it already has been. In any case, this is not the issue at hand. I hope that tomorrow at noon you can meet with T'Pina, in the Xenobiology Section of the Academy.

"Of course, Father."

"And I strongly suggest that James goes with you."

Spock hesitated. His Father had never fully accepted his relationship with Jim ... but it appeared he was more concerned by the possible extinction of the Vulcan race than the chance he might have to deal with such an emotional and unbearably irritating human.

"We shall do so, Father."

"Oh my God! Sonsofabitch! This is impossible! First I had to achieve credibility in front of all these mediocre admirals, to prove that I'm a good captain and so they'll stop calling me 'that brat, Kirk' …hey, didn't they realize that we saved the Earth?"

"After cheating on an exam…"

"Do you still resent me for that?"

"You know I mean no disrespect ... but it's true."

"Then, incidentally, we had to wait an entire year of 'formal relations' before we were allowed to be together, and I don't know how many more months of hell before your Father and the rest of your people accepted our bond. They finally left us in peace to get married and now... all of them are demanding that we have a child? NO WAY AM I GONNA DO THAT!"

"Jim, you do not have to shout."

"Yes, I'd like it if we had a son ... but nobody's going to that decide for me. There will not be an 'experiment' or a 'mixture of recessive genes'. And if we do have a child, he or she will not be raised as a Vulcan!" Jim realized the stupidity of what he had said right away. Well, he used to being an idiot. Spock didn't seem to notice; he said nothing, only the gleam in his eyes gave him away.

"My own upbringing was mixed, Jim. And my education was totally Vulcan. I certainly do not think you love me less for that..."

Jim, impetuous as always, hastened to take Spock's hand and kiss his fingers, lightly."Forgive me... I didn't mean to say what I said. I'm an asshole, a stupid one."

"McCoy often states this."

"And you think so too, right?"

" Sometimes you do act like one," Spock said. .

Jim could not resist him. Nor, incidentally, anything involving his Vulcan. He adored him even in sleep. He turned on the bed to face him; the lustrous black hair was slightly disheveled, after making love twice, and Jim thought it looked a lot better that way. He hugged him, relaxing in Spock's warm embrace.

"Have you thought about how it would be? We can't leave behind everything we've accomplished." !"

"The Enterprise? Starfleet? Our own crew? Of course I have thought about this, Jim." Spock fell silent. It was a tense silence. Jim understood him better in that moment. The Vulcan could easily control his appearance, but not so much his emotions, because of his human half. Jim swallowed hard. He had to correct his mistake."Spock ... don't think I don't want a child with you… I'd love to." Jim kissed along his sharp jaw-line. "We could have ten, if you want."

"That would be an unmanageable number."

Jim laughed. "How do you know that? Maybe you'd be a better mother than you think ..."

"My maternal qualities are not a discussion for now, Jim. And dividing our attention between ten children would be unfair to them and exhausting for us."

Jim sighed. "When you will be able to understand a joke?"

"Possibly when you specify that it is one."

Jim sat up on the bed, looking straight ahead.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that at least one of us would have to stay parked on Earth, or here in Vulcan II, for at least a couple of years. A ship is no place to raise a child, much less one like the Enterprise, because of the type of missions we're used to… What would we do in the midst of a battle, or a bad encounter with one of those pests that Bones is always talking about? On the other hand, noone has explained which kind of method they're gonna use. Do you make me pregnant? Or should I impregnate you?"

Spock stroked Jim's back, to make him relax.

"I have considered all of this. But the fact remains that we are on the brink of extinction. My Father says there is a xenobiologist at the Academy who has achieved much progress in this direction, but did not give me more explanation. He wants us to go there tomorrow at noon, to the Xenobiology Section, to talk to her."

"We?"

"Yes, he urged that we go together."

Jim sighed again."What can I say? The least I owe you for being with me is to do everything I can to help you... I just don't want a son of mine ... a child of ours ... to be an 'experiment'."

Spock kissed his cheek and the tip of his nose, lost in Jim's electric blue gaze..

"The chance that the baby would be treated as a scientific experiment in violation of Vulcan ethics is less than .001% ... I would not worry so much."

"You loveydovey silly"

"I am not a fool, Jim."

"I know ... that's why you married me…"

Spock was about to answer but he noticed that Jim had fallen asleep almost instantly. He realized how tired he was himself, and soon soft breathing was the only sound in the room. Outside, it began to rain.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 -

Chapter End Notes:

Yeah, on Vulcan II, it rains. I´m so sad right now; the search for Vulcan, in Eridani 40 -SIM Project of NASA- was delayed AGAIN, until 2015... this includes the search for planets like ours orbiting Eridani 3, the third sun of 40 Eridani, the original sun of Vulcan 1, 18 light years from here – 2 hours at Warp 7. And we already know that it has at least TWO planets like Earth, where water is liquid and life, possible. Tsk. We must wait... again.