A/N: Hello everyone I got this idea after re-watching the fourth season. This story treats the series finally as non-canon. Meaning Trip/T'Pol romance abounds.
Prologue- Sometime after the signing of the Articles of the Federation.
The air sang as two metal blades clashed with each other repeatedly. Admiral Jonathon Archer had just materialized beside a modest home on the Florida panhandle. The home belonged to his two best friends Charles and T'Pol Tucker. Archer made his way down a pebble path that led through tall reeds to the Tucker's private beach. The couple was engaged in some sort of duel. Jonathon laughed to himself; they looked quite odd with the long battle instruments in hand. The pole arm weapons they each had looked as if they had come from the prop department of a bad twentieth century science fiction show. They had a thin blade at one end that waved in the wind while the other end held a large blunt instrument that looked padded. Sitting himself down on a log the Admiral watched as they repeatedly took swings at each other with either of the two ends. After several minutes both looked exhausted and ready to fall over. T'Pol over stepped a thrust giving Trip the time to recover his footing and make a wide slash toward her abdomen. It took Archer a second to register the large red gash across his former science officer's stomach. He was about to interject when T'Pol touched her stomach looking at the stain of blood on her hand and looked up at Trip. Archer could have sworn that she looked like a wild cat about to strike. She did strike however not as Archer thought she would. T'Pol lunged forward and kissed Trip like a feral lion. The two rolled in the sand for several minutes until apparently coming to their senses. Helping each other out of the sand they both noticed Archer for the first time.
'Jon? What in the blazes are you doing here?' Trip asked running up to his best friend and pulling him into a hearty embrace.
'I was just about to ask you two what was going on." Archer said pointing to the weapons lying in the sand.
'Trip and I were engaged in Pon Farr.' T'Pol said calmly as if she was completely unfazed by the event.
'Pon Farr? I thought you had to relieve Pon Farr with a mating ritual?' Archer said raising an eyebrow.
Trip nearly buckled over at the overly Vulcan expression. 'Pon Farr isn't that simple since the two of us are bonded it takes a lot to quell the human emotions we share.'
'I suppose that makes sense.' Archer said following the couple trough the rear entrance to their home.
'So Jon what brings you to Florida?' Trip asked pouring two cups of green tea and handing one to his wife.
'I'm here on business unfortunately.' Archer said with a deep sigh. 'You're probably going to say no but Starfleet wants to offer you your own ship.' He said sitting down on one of the kitchen stools.
'They trying to get us geezers to captain the old NX classes so their new poster boys can fly the warp eight ships?' Trip joked sipping his tea.
Archer shook his head. 'Not at all, we're offering you the new NCC-101.'
Trip's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he spewed tea over the counter. 'The NCC-101?' He asked skeptically wiping the counter with a towel. 'Which one?'
'The U.S.S. Columbia.' Archer stated. Trip nearly dropped his cup at the name of his old ship. T'Pol merely raised an eyebrow as she stood behind her husband.
'You have to be pulling my leg.' Trip said placing his cup in the sink before he dropped it again.
'I wouldn't joke about something like this Trip.' He said getting up from his stool. 'She launches in four weeks so I'll need to get the paperwork finished within the next day or two.' He said walking over to the door. 'Call me in the morning with your answer Captain Tucker.' Archer said with a smile on his face as he left.
Later that night Trip and T'Pol sat on the edge of their giant bathtub. T'Pol was wearing her now customary silk pink pajamas. She held a small white stick in her hands looking at an egg timer in Trips hands. As the buzzer went off they both looked intently at the strip until it turned bright pink. Trip grinned broadly and kissed his wife. T'Pol didn't bother to hide her smile as she let a gasp escape her mouth.
'Guess this answers the High Commands question about whether Humans and Vulcans can mate.' Trip said kissing her neck.
'I want you to take that post on the Columbia.' She said looking into his eyes.
'Are you sure?' He asked holding her in both arms. 'That could mean five whole years apart from each other.'
T'Pol smiled again as she raised her eyebrow to indicate she was disappointed. 'You did not bother to check the Columbia's status did you?'
'What do you mean' Trip wondered not sure where she was going with this.
'The Columbia is the flagship of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.' She said keeping her smile plastered on her lips.
It took Trip a second to register what she was getting at. When it clicked a smile crept across his face as well. 'That old dog, Jon gave me that post on purpose.' Trip gave his wife an accusatory look. 'You didn't tell Archer we were trying to have a baby did you?'
'Why would you think that.' T'Pol said smiling even broader.
They held each other tightly and dreamed of the future. Neither knew what it would hold however if the past few years told them anything the future never looked brighter.