Author's Note: This story is the third in a series that includes The Serendipity Paradox and How to Date a Vulcan and Protocols for Human Courtship. Though it can be read as a standalone story, it will make frequent references to events that occurred in those two earlier installments, particularly The Serendipity Paradox.
January 2228
Amanda set the vase of roses on the center of the table and smiled. It had taken a bit of work to make Sarek's house a proper home, but things were coming together. They had been married in a small ceremony on Vulcan nearly five months ago, and since returning to Earth, things had been interesting.
The previous November she had finally left Project Rosetta, following a six-month extension of her contract. It had been an exciting challenge to be part of the collaborative effort of thousands of linguists, translators, cultural advisors, computer scientists, and engineers to complete a universal translator, but now that chapter of her life was over, and preliminary versions were already installed in half the vessels in Starfleet.
She had spent much of December out of work and out of her mind with boredom, but had quickly found a position as an adjunct undergraduate professor in linguistics at the University of California at San Francisco. She only taught two lower division courses, but in the two weeks since the session had started, she'd been quickly immersed in academic culture.
She had been like many of her students once, and thought it was a fun game to tease out which ones were genuinely passionate about the field of linguistics and which were just jockeying for attention as a means of procuring a better grade or a potential letter of recommendation.
Word had quickly spread that she was married to a Vulcan, and that point of interest quickly dwarfed most other questions about the course material. She knew her marriage to Sarek wasn't conventional by human or Vulcan standards, but humans were a lot more overt in their open curiosity about her life and spousal choice. Most tried to disguise it by asking more roundabout questions, such as wondering whether or not they spoke Vuhlkansu at home or what it was like to be an ambassador's wife.
She despised referring to herself as an ambassador's wife, since no one referred to Sarek as a junior professor's husband. As much as she disliked it, it was a title she would never get away from, and it carried a number of implied responsibilities that she often struggled to recognize and cope with.
Sarek was often away, and even when he was home, he worked long hours at the embassy. She had expected that, but she hadn't anticipated just how much of the rest of his time would be consumed by social demands.
When Sarek had been a bachelor, no one had expected him to host dinners or attend very many non-professional functions. Now that he had a human wife, a lot of people seemed to view it as an opportunity to get better acquainted with the reserved Vulcan ambassador, and Amanda couldn't help but feel that it was at her expense. She could never quite shake the feeling that she was being turned into a point of gossip or being constantly judged.
Since marrying Sarek, her world had grown exponentially. She had yet to stop being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of people that he knew, and the minor details of their lives that he kept straight in his head. He could easily recall many things, from how Federation councilmembers had voted on a particular issue four years earlier or how many mistresses a particular Tellarite governor had, and which ones were permissible to speak about and which ones were not.
Amanda wouldn't call herself shy, but she tended more toward introversion. She was very slowly growing more comfortable moving around in Sarek's impossibly large social circle, but she had yet to stop feeling like she was just pretending at the political and diplomatic lifestyle to which her husband seemed completely accustomed. Every conversation still felt like it held the potential for some embarrassing gaffe or ignorant comment.
At their first public function together as a married couple, the wife of the Terran Vice President asked how large of a staff she kept, and she had been forced to admit she didn't have a full-time staff, which the woman had thought was "charmingly delightful." Before they were married, a woman named Maggie came and cleaned Sarek's living quarters twice a month, and since Amanda had moved in, she now came twice a week.
Amanda couldn't resign herself to sitting on the couch while someone else cleaned up her messes, even if she was being paid to do so, and often fell in beside the middle-aged woman to dust and sweep. Sarek found that particular habit strange, and no matter how hard she tried, she still hadn't found a way to adequately explain the work ethic her father had instilled in her.
Euclid gracefully leapt onto the dining room table and began to brush his face along the vase with the flowers. She tried to shoo him down, but he stared at her disinterestedly and stalked to the other end of the table. Her cat and grown quite fond of Sarek, and she occasionally joked that he was more her husband's cat than he was hers.
She hadn't been sure how well they would get along together, because she'd made the mistaken assumption that Vulcans would find keeping pets to be illogical. Sarek had informed her that as a child, he'd had a pet sehlat called I-Chaya, and explained that he understood that by marrying Amanda, he would be required to accept Euclid into his life as well, and would gladly do so.
Euclid had accepted Sarek just as readily. Her husband had the unique ability to get Euclid to comply with most of his wishes, and the black and white cat seemed to love him all the more for it. They quickly learned to shut the bedroom door while they slept, otherwise the cat would attempt to perch himself on Sarek's chest. More than once, Sarek had thrown him out of the bedroom for the cat's persistent interruptions during his meditative periods.
She moved around to the other end of the table to collect Euclid, but he turned his head toward the door, jumped from the table, and raced to wait near the entryway.
Sarek was home.
She was surprised by his early arrival. It was only 1830 on a Thursday, and Sarek typically wouldn't arrive home for at least another hour. She hadn't even given any thought to what they would eat for dinner, and wondered if the chickpea stew left over from the night before would be enough for them both.
He walked through the door and began removing his shoes. It was still lightly sleeting outside, and his cheeks were flushed with a greenish tinge from the cold. She greeted him at the door and took his heavy cloak.
"You're home early," she grinned.
"The emergency staff at the consular complex recommended everyone leave early if possible, due to the approaching inclement weather," he explained.
If a minor ice storm could convince Sarek to come home earlier, Amanda might have agreed to move to Antarctica. He reached out his right hand and she met her two forefingers to his, enjoying the pleasant sensation of ozh'esta and feeling surprised by how cold his hand was.
She clasped both of his hands between both of hers to warm them slightly, and gently led him out of the entryway.
"I can't imagine Vulcan gets many ice storms," she teased.
"No," he agreed. "Though since you refer to Vulcan, I have news to share with you."
She looked at him expectantly over the long, granite kitchen counter. Early in their relationship, they'd endured frequent miscommunications and misunderstandings, but they were getting better about sharing things with one another. Sarek still occasionally failed to inform her of important news or changes to his schedule until the last moment, but she tried to remember that very often, he didn't know about things until the last moment himself.
"The Vulcan Science Academy has offered me a position on the Astrophysics Advisory Board."
Amanda caught her breath and stared at him in astonishment. Her husband had always been privately drawn to the sciences, but had pursued a diplomatic career at the behest of his family.
"So, what does that mean? Are you giving up your ambassadorship?"
"No, not formally," he replied. "Many of my duties can be performed from Vulcan, with routine visits to Earth."
"So, that's it then? We're just… moving to Vulcan?"
"I have not formally accepted the offer," he explained. "I wished to discuss it with you first, though I sense you are not greatly enthusiastic about the prospect."
"No," she said quickly, leaning her palms against the counter. "I'm just kind of in shock. It's a surprise, is all."
She had always understood he wouldn't be posted to Earth forever, but she didn't think they would have to move so soon.
"It was merely an offer, one which I am able to reject, should you-"
"You're not seriously thinking about turning it down?" she interrupted, looking at him with stern incredulity.
She knew Sarek had waited years for this kind of opportunity, and had spent decades cultivating relationships with individuals on the Federation and Vulcan Science Councils. She had learned enough about Vulcan culture and politics to know that this kind of offer wouldn't be extended to him again if he refused it.
"It had occurred to me, should you desire to remain on Earth and continue your work at the university," he explained.
She was dumbfounded. She was enjoying her new job, but it was far from her dream career. She wasn't even sure what her dream career was, or if she even had one. She attempted to get a sense of what he was thinking through their shared mating bond, but he was doing an impeccable job of segregating his mind from hers.
"I know what this kind of position means to you," she replied slowly. "I've always known we would move away from here someday, and if it has to be now, at least it's for a good reason."
"You are certain?" he asked.
"When do we leave?" she replied with a grim smile.
"I would be due on Vulcan before the beginning of the New Year."
"The Vulcan New Year, or the Federation New Year?"
"The Vulcan New Year," he clarified.
She exhaled sharply and did her best to conceal her disappointment. Vulcans observed a very short year, one that was only about three-quarters of a standard Earth year. If memory served her correctly, the season of T'Khut, or the traditional Vulcan New Year, began in about two weeks.
"Well, I guess let's eat a quick dinner and then start packing," she said with feigned cheerfulness.
"I sense you are falling victim to the illogical human habit of saying one thing but intending another," Sarek said through their telepathic mating bond.
"No," she replied honestly. "I really want this for you. It was just unexpected. I just need time to get used to the idea, but that doesn't mean I'm going to change my mind."
He looked at her carefully and she added, "Even Vulcans sometimes meditate to collect their thoughts on important life decisions, right?"
The rest of the evening passed by in a blur for Amanda, and they went to bed early. Sarek was soon asleep, but Amanda lie awake in bed and allowed her mind free reign to more fully digest the idea of moving sixteen light years away from home.
She agonized over the smaller details first, finding them easier to cope with and analyze. She penned an appropriate resignation letter in her head and imagined what she would say to her students. She thought about the best way to tell her mother, and very quickly began to panic.
The larger details immediately began to creep into her thoughts, and brought with them a nearly overpowering anxiety.
Would she find a job on Vulcan? Would she find friends on Vulcan? Would she ever master concealing her emotions in public?
She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She rolled her head on her pillow to observe Sarek as he slept, and resisted the urge to wake him up and ask dozens of questions.
Sarek was the love of her life, and she had meant it when she told him she would follow him anywhere. It had been an easy commitment to make when the thought of moving to some alien or exotic place was an abstract, eventual possibility. Yet now, in the darkness of their bedroom on that cold January night, feeling alone and terrorized by her own worried thoughts, she realized that reality was coming, and she did not feel ready for it.
"I love you, Sarek," she whispered aloud, before rolling onto her right side to stare up at the moon through the high window in their bedroom.
It occurred to her that she would be moving to a place where she would never see the familiar light of Earth's bright moon, and wondered if she would miss it. It was then that she started to feel quite silly. She appreciated the white-blue light as a ritual, nightly occurrence, but she didn't love the moon. She loved Sarek.
She could make a life anywhere, as long as it was with him. The rest was just details.