Character/Pairing: Uhura/Spock, Samara, OCs

Rating: K

Summary: Nyota brings Spock home to meet her family in Kenya and get ready for the wedding.

Warning: None.

A/N: Story takes place after Say Goodbye. The Uhuras own/manage a large family farm and cultural center, west of Mount Kenya National Park. I'm not sure how long this will be since Nyota and Spock need to tell her parents a few things about Spock's lupinity *and* Spock has a bachelor's party to get to. lol

As the stars twinkled silently above, the hum of a transporter beam vibrated for a moment before three beings coalesced into solid form in a small glass enclosed building, lit with only a single bright yellow light.

Nyota looked around with surprise at her surroundings and turned to her sister, Samara, 'But I thought we'd beam into Maathai SpacePort!'

Samara just laughed, stepping off the transporter pad, 'Surprise! They just put it in a few months ago. You know how long Mom's been wanting this, but it wasn't until your wedding that Daddy finally relented and got it built.'

'Well, it's very nice, big too.' Nyota loved the warmly decorated transporter room, recognizing her mother's touch and noted the sleek double bay doors that Samara was pushing to one side. She smiled up at Spock, 'Mom has argued for years that as a teaching farm and arts center, they should be allowed to have a proper transporter room for all the VIPs they host. Guess she finally got her wish.'

'Well, she didn't get everything. We can only receive and can't transport anyone ourselves. They've got to go to Maathai for that. Still, it's a heck of a convenience. And Mom doesn't have to worry about folks beaming onto her front porch.' She stopped pushing the doors aside and turned to them with a grin.

'Please clear the transporter pad. There is an incoming transmission from the USS Enterprise.'

Nyota laughed at the robotic computer's voice. A red light began to flash overhead and Samara waved Nyota and Spock off the transporter discs. A very large, bulky shape sparkled and then solidified. It was all of their baggage on an anti-grav sled.

'Scotty to Samara.'

Samara clicked on the comm unit on the wall to respond, 'Hi Scotty! We're all in one piece! Thank you so much and have a safe trip to Linlithgow.'

'Yeah, thank you Scotty! We'll see you in a few days!', Nyota chimed in.

'Thank you kindly, lasses! Be seeing you! Enterprise out.'

Nyota stepped outside and breathed in the calming, earthy night air slowly. In all her travels, there was no other place like it in the universe. She was home! She grabbed Samara's hand and squeezed it joyfully. Five long years of dangerous away missions, attacks by floating computers and alien life forms. Not even a damn ladder could keep her away from coming home.

She yelped when Samara dealt her a stinging slap to her rear end.

'I'll beat you to the front door girl!' Samara was already whooping down the bricked pathway with Nyota following hot on her heels laughing like a hyena. It was good to run free like this, like they had when they were children. And how refreshing was it to not be running from something?

The lights in the downstairs and enclosed porch were on. She heard a door bang open and a shout but she couldn't see anyone yet. Samara had disappeared through the giant bamboo hedge the lined main house.

'Ny! Ra! Ny! Ra!' It was her father, walking towards them down the path with his arms open in welcome and a big smile.

Samara nearly jumped on him for a hug. He enfolded both of them in a tight embrace of breathless laughter and teasing that quickly turned to weeping. Mainly from their father but Samara and Nyota hadn't bothered stifling their tears either.

Nyota patted her father's back affectionately, 'Oh, Dad! Don't! No, please don't cry. It's okay. We're here now.'

'I know! I can't help it! Oh god.' He fished out a white handkerchief and wiped his eyes and nose. 'We shouldn't be carrying on so loudly. We'll wake up the whole house!' He looked at them with astonishment, 'But where is Spock? Have you forgotten him already? Did the Vulcan get cold feet?'

Joseph Uhura chuckled heartily when Nyota slapped him on the arm, 'No, Dad! That's not funny.'

'Ahh, there he is, so dutiful! And pulling such a pile! What a strong son I have now.' Joseph let go of his girls and walked down the path further to greet Spock. 'Welcome, Mr. Spock!' He stopped in front of the tall Vulcan and gave him the traditional greeting and salute.

Spock stopped towing the sled and returned the salute, 'I am honored you have welcomed me to your home, Joseph.' He could see where Nyota had inherited her height. And her smile.

'And I see you have quite a burden there, Spock. Have my girls packed the whole universe in there?'

'And then some, baba.' Spock raised his eyebrow.

There was a startled pause before Joseph laughed, 'Oh my. Well, let me show you where you will both be staying. Come along my dears.'

Joseph put his arms around both of his daughters and they walked up to the house. 'There, Spock. You can pull it right up next to the door onto the porch. No one will bother it there.'

Spock pulled the anti-grav sled onto the porch and pushed it into a corner out of the way. When he turned to face them, he raised his eyebrows at the three of them standing there watching him silently with big grins on each of their faces. He glanced at Nyota with a silent question in his eyes.

'You will have to excuse me, Spock. But I am a very happy man to have finally met you in the flesh. For bringing home my daughter safely to me. In fact, I'm doing everything I can not to hug and kiss you. You can expect more of the same from my wife and our parents. In fact, I hope you have a vast reservoir of forgiveness because we are quite a touchy-feely family.'

'As you know Joseph, my mother is human, so I have considerable experience in dealing with the emotional needs of humans.' Spock ignored Nyota's smirk.

'That's good to hear, Spock. Now please come in. I can see that Nyota and Samara are too excited to fall asleep, so I will make us some chai.'

They were all standing around the kitchen, quietly talking and laughing about their return trip home. Spock looked very relaxed to Nyota and it was nice to see him and her father speaking together. It had been barely ten minutes since stepping through the front door, when Nyota looked up from her tea and gasped in surprise.

'Nyanya!' She got up from her chair and embraced her father's mother gently, 'Oh, you're up so early. I hope we didn't wake you.' She guided the elderly woman to an empty chair so she could sit.

She patted Nyota's face, 'No, no my dear girl. Not at all. I sleep so little these days and we've all been expecting you. Your grandfather is upstairs getting dressed now and he's very eager to hear all of your adventures. So be prepared, you know how he gets.'

After she accepted a long hug from Samara, she nodded to Spock with a huge smile, 'Mr. Spock. It is good to finally meet you. And I must say, that my daughter in law's description of you didn't do you any justice at all. You are a very handsome man, though I'm sure you've been told so.' Masika Kosgei looked up slyly at her embarrassed granddaughter, who was handing her a cup of steaming black tea.

'Thank you, nyanya.' Spock said gravely, 'My mother has called me handsome in the past. Vulcans are not concerned with physical attributes per se, but it is....pleasing to hear a fair assessment of my appearance from such a discerning individual.'

Joseph snorted into his cup of tea and Samara giggled. Nyota just shook her head and laughed.

Before long, Masika's husband, Kayiga, joined them, followed soon by the yawning maternal set of Nderu and Aminah, who were still in their bathrobes. But it didn't matter, as there was more hugging and crying and laughing. More tea was made and everyone started talking all at once, carrying on two or three conversations at the same time. Questions and answers were repeated often in the cacophony of conversation.

Spock found human communication to be interesting, if not a little noisy. He sipped his tea and his head bounced back and forth around the table trying to follow each conversation as closely as he could. And Joseph was right, they were a touchy-feely family, though not more so than any other human family that Spock had experienced. Masika had already patted his hand twice, as if it would make her conversational point clearer to him. Fascinating.

They were producing such a racket in the kitchen that it was some time before anyone noticed Nyota's mother at the door of the kitchen, putting shopping bags down on the counter.

'But Upenda! We didn't even hear you leave or come back!' Joseph rushed over to his wife and kissed her quickly before peeking into the bags.

'Yes, that's because you are all so loud. We're going to have a full house this morning, so I need to get started on breakfast.' Samara and Nyota had her in a tight grip already and this set off a new round of tears and hugging. 'Oh stop it, girls, you're making me cry again.' Upenda sniffled, 'You should've heard your father after he last spoke to you, Ra. He was already crying then.' She laughed and patted her husband on the shoulder, 'Dry your eyes, big baby and help me get breakfast ready.'

'Oh god.' Joseph took out his handkerchief again and wiped his eyes. 'We haven't even done the wedding yet and I'm a blubbering mess. What will the Vulcans think?' He was joking, but there was a seriousness in his voice.

Spock only raised his eyebrows, 'The cause is sufficient, Joseph.'

Joseph smiled, 'Thank you, Spock.' And he began unpacking the groceries from their bags.

The kitchen was bustling with renewed activity as fruit were washed, cut and set out in attractive bowls on the table. Joseph made scrambled eggs and a platter of mandazi, a deep fried treat. By then, the sun's rays had started creeping through the window and across the kitchen.

Nyota's aunts and uncles would be joining them soon with their children and grandchildren. It would be a full house for tonight before some of them would move to another house on the other side of the farm. Upenda wanted Spock's family to stay with them in the big house so that they could get to know them.

Spock picked up a mandazi and sniffed it surreptitiously. Its smell was pleasant and warm and he could detect nothing harmful. Nderu nudged him, 'Ah, you have found my favorite snack. Would you like some coffee, Spock? I am tired of tea.'

He nodded to the older man and bit into his breakfast. It was very similar to the warm donuts he had once eaten with his uncle's family. However, it wasn't as sweet and it was far more preferable. He put another one on his plate and then a spoonful of scrambled eggs. He was quite hungry as he had not had dinner either the night before or this following morning. He looked over at Nyota who raised an eyebrow at him. She was already eating her third banana. Clearly, they had expended a lot of energy this morning due to their vigorous activities in zero-g. After he ate two bananas, a mango and an avocado, he sat back, satisfied and with a refreshed cup of coffee.

Nderu, Kayiga and Joseph wanted to take Spock with them on a tour of the farm, but decided that they would wait for Joseph's brother, Daniel and as well as his brother in law, Reggie. Spock was grateful he had taken the time to get to know Nyota's family tree beforehand. He would be meeting several new family members and it was important to remember them all and make a good impression. He was looking forward to his own family's arrival as he could see that his uncle's family would have much in common with Nyota's.

Nyota's uncles, aunts and cousins later arrived, along with their children. There were squeals of delight and happy screams as the cousins were reunited. Four females and one male all roughly the same age as Nyota or younger. The reunion soon spilled into the dining room and Spock was introduced to each one. After an hour, he noticed how Nyota was becoming fidgety. She was getting tired and overstimulated. Spock took Joseph aside with a question.

'Of course, Spock. You're absolutely right. Let me show you which room you'll be staying in.'

Spock grabbed their overnight bags from the anti-grav sled outside and quickly followed Joseph up the stairs to the bedrooms.

'Upenda and I decided to give you two the corner room. It's on the older side of the house, but it's big and it's got its own shower. Water too. Rest of the house are sonic.'

He carried their bags to the bed, 'Thank you Joseph. Nyota is still recovering from her fall two days ago and it would not do if she overtires herself.'

'Yes, of course you're quite right. Well, you settle in and I'll go see if she wants to take a nap.'

Taking their clothes and toiletries out of their bags, he began putting things in their proper places. He opened up one of the windows to let the warm air circulate through the house. It was still early morning and it was already quite warm. Kenya was located right on the equator and he found the climate to be very agreeable. Although it was wetter than what he was used to on Vulcan, the heat had a meditative effect on him. He was so used to fighting the cold on the ship, he hadn't realized how tense he was until that first wave of hot air melted it away.

'Hey there.' Nyota was leaning against the doorjamb. 'I'd say it's going pretty well down there. They already love you and are asking me for all kinds of stories. I hope my grandmother didn't upset you. I'm honestly surprised that no one's tried hugging or kissing you yet.'

'I appreciate the restraint on their part, though you should mention to McCoy that although etiquette required them to refrain, the desire was still there. I am sure he would find that quite compelling.'

She laughed, 'Yeah right, I'm sure Len would have something to say about that.' She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. 'You'll always be irresistibly huggable. Thank you, by the way for this morning. I enjoyed myself very much. And I'm sorry I got so excited that I ran and left you behind to do all the heavy lifting.'

'Nyota, as a Vulcan male, I have at least six times your strength. Pulling upon an anti-grav sled is hardly heavy lifting.' To prove his point, he lifted her up and carried her to the bed. 'You should lay down and close your eyes. I will lay next to you and keep you company.' He kissed her chastely on the lips.

She sighed and smiled, 'Ok, fine. I'm going to rest, but I'm not tired at all. I'm just really keyed up right now. This time lag is going to bite me in the ass though.'

'Which is why you need to rest.' Spock settled down beside her and pulled her close, whispering into her ear, 'Close your eyes, Nyota.' He deepened his voice, knowing the effect it had on her.

Nyota's fatigue was soon confirmed when she fell asleep in a matter of minutes. He meant to only meditate next to her, since he knew that eventually there would be a conversation with Nyota's parents about his lupine infection and what that meant for the future. But he would not dwell on it and soon Spock was sound asleep.