2161
"This sucks." Trip Tucker ran the laps with his Captain. "There has to be a different option than separating my family. Libby needs to grow up with both her parents. It's not what we want, it's not going to work in the long run."
"We've talked about it for six years Trip." Jonathon Archer sighed. "I wish there was a more practical answer but there isn't. You're going to take that shuttle and get Libby out of here. The safe house on Alpha Centuri is ready for you, at most it should be 3 months before T'Pol joins you two."
"I still don't like the idea at all. You're not the one that has to explain this whole thing to your scared child." The engineer punched the wall. "Yes, we've been beyond overprotective of her, but we haven't had a choice, we want her to be as normal as possible, doing this ain't helping the situation at all. What the hell of a cock and bull story are we going to conduct to kill me off anyway? Can I at least die a noble death?"
"You can thank Shran for getting his ass into this sorry situation." The Captain smiled. "I'll handle the heroics of the story later. I'm sure between Phlox, Malcolm, and Hoshi we can think of something good. You're officially relieved of duty, the last decade's been a pleasure Commander."
She knew the minute he returned to their quarters it was time. They had made it a point that neither of them wanted any thing to do with the planning, it would be too difficult. Someone had to run the ship when the scheming was going on, and as a couple they craved the normalcy of routine. "When?"
"Tomorrow. We'll leave with Shran." He kept his voice to a whisper as to not wake their daughter. "It's so not what I want to do, and just don't. Don't start that's it's the only logical thing to do, I don't want to hear it now. Even with Jon saying it'll be only a few months, you and I both know that's not the truth."
"Do you really think I want to see my daughter leave me?" The Vulcan struggled to keep her stoic composure. "You two could get onto that shuttle and I might not see you for years. We should've never even started these discussions when we brought Libby home. It would've been tough, but people would've gotten used to the notion of her. I don't want to raise our children apart, I don't even want to go through 3 days of this pregnancy without you."
"Phlox will be around to monitor you, and we'll be together again before you know it. If anything I feel safer having you still on ship with a doctor at your beck and call." He took her into his arms. "What matters the most is that you and the baby are healthy, and I promise not to corrupt Libby until you join us. No swearing, and I will make sure her manners stay in line."
2162
The Admiral let a wide grin spread across his face as he saw the figure at the end of the hall. The tapping of her heels were a familiar and welcome sound. It had been 3 months since her promotion, the Command Gold, the Captain's pips, her signature ponytail chopped off, the sight of it all still threw him off. "I hope the hazing hasn't been too bad Captain."
"I'm only half tempted to call Harvard and accept the teaching post." Hoshi Sato smiled at her former commanding officer. "I really believe half the staff around here doesn't have a clue as to how to deal with me. I know there's resentment with me going from Lieutenant to Captain, but if they want me to do this right, I need respect. I'm not running some tiny little operation here, we're talking about languages for the fleet, someone needs to be able to program those universal translators. Plus, one of these days, as we keep expanding there's going to be a need for a common language, it might as well be me that develops it."
"Half of Enterprise didn't know how to deal with you for the better part of two years." Archer looked at her with wide eyes. "It's still a relief to have a familiar face here with me, even if we are on opposite sides of the grounds. Now I did promise you lunch, so you'll really get those tongues wagging now."
"Puh-lease, they're already wagging enough. I'm just happy I have my primary defender back." The pair started walking. "At least I have a staff that understands I'm a pro at what I do, and that if I wasn't I wouldn't be their boss. But if everyone else would just give me some respect, life would be a lot easier."
"Give them time Hosh. They'll learn to realize that if you want to you could make their lives a living hell." He had missed her over the last few weeks. "So what did I miss while on my mission of goodwill to all? That is besides your brownies."
"I'll just have to send you with an emergency ration of my brownies next time." She flirted shamelessly, after a decade it was part of their closeness. "Malcolm went off and married Sergeant McKenzie. Travis and Amanda were speechless when they heard. Even better, we think she's pregnant. Those two as parents, can you imagine a scarier sight?"
"You with a stroller. And as much as Mayweather and Cole feign drama, we all saw that one coming." Archer looked at her. "I mean come on here, it's Malcolm we're talking about. Mr. Rigidity was going to need a wife one day, he's the nesting type. I think him and Sergeant McKenzie on perfect for each other. I'm just glad I won't be the poor kid facing them when I miss curfew."
"Like you would be any better?" Sato winked at him. "How was Vulcan anyway? T'Pol holding up okay? It can't be easy for her a newborn and not having Trip and Libby there."
"She's surviving, Charlie looks and sounds just like Trip, so it might get tougher as he gets older." The Admiral opened the door of the officer's club for her. "But let's actually put it out of our mind for now and actually enjoy lunch like two normal humans. Though I really want to hear what the grapevine starts saying that you're eating lunch with me."
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2163
"So what's this rumor I keep hearing about Jon and Hoshi." Tucker brought drinks out to Reed on his deck. "I mean that's even better than you and Corporal McKenzie if it's true."
"First of all, if you ever think about addressing Jenna as Corporal to her face, you're in for a serious ass whipping." The Commander leaned back into the deck chair. "I like you so I'll give you a fair warning. If you know anything about my wife, she takes to being referred to Corporal just as seriously as Hoshi does to being referred to as Ensign. They've worked too hard to get to where they're at."
"That's nice, but what about Jon and Hoshi, are the rumors I'm hearing actually true. From what I'm getting is that they're lunching together every day, and it's just not as colleagues if you catch my drift." Tucker smiled. "I mean they deserver happiness, and if they can find it with each other, good for them."
"I think the closeness they've developed has to do simply with the fact that they're the two of us stationed at Starfleet headquarters. It's not exactly the friendliest group that work out of there." Reed sighed. "If you want a bunch of persnickety snobs who wouldn't know how to survive on ship for more than 3 weeks, it's the place to be."
"They're not that persnickety. Or maybe I'm becoming immune to it after a year." The Admiral joined them on the deck. "And it's not like I don't hear you gossiping about me Trip. It's frankly none of your business what I do with my personal life. Nor with who I spend free time, I don't haggle you two over any of the choices you have made."
"So the rumors are true then?" Tucker glared at his best friend. "I mean, you have the need to be involved with a woman with as close to as much power as you. Yet at the same time she needs to be an intellectual equal. And after 20 years, Erika wasn't going to wait around for you anymore, can you really blame her?"
"I'm not going to win this battle." Archer smiled broadly. "I just know I won't, you've picked up too much of T'Pol's logic over the last decade. I'm happy, Hoshi's happy and for us it's working. Is it a happy ever after situation, I'm not sure. I would like it to be though."
"So it's more about just being lunch buddies. I knew it. Ha!" Reed nodded approvingly. "She's right for you. That and the fact that Hoshi speaks dozens of languages will probably only help your career in the long run."
"It's not about my career Malcolm." The Admiral looked at the two. "It's been about my career for 35 years, it's about time it becomes about my life for once. Now the two of you could help me by wiping those giant ass-kissing smirks off your faces."
"I'm coming out of hiding for your wedding Jon. You can explain that one to brass." Tucker smiled. "And it's about time Hoshi settled down also, Captain Sato isn't getting any younger either. And I know she outranks me, but it's not like she can throw me in the brig for that comment."
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2165
"Why am I already dreading the years when she starts to give the boys a run for their money?" Sato cradled her newborn daughter. "At least that will make us seem younger."
"I don't feel my age at all." Archer squeezed his wife's shoulder. "And you certainly don't look even close to your age Hosh. You're going to go on for eternity that your age makes you ancient to be a first time mother, but it's not. If we raise her right we'll be fine and she'll be the perfect child."
"No, we'll be bigger parenting disasters than Malcolm and Jenna. You've seen how they're dealing with the terrible twos, it'll look easy when we get to them. Plus, we're the tops in our professional lives, for that reason alone we'll be horrible at raising Margaret." She rolled her eyes. "She already has your scheming look in her eyes. Will Starfleet ever be ready for another Archer?"
"Don't go putting all the blame on me. She's your child too. The 27 hours of labor that you'll be holding against me for all eternity is the only proof I need for that." He teased his wife. "We're not going to pressure her to be fleet. It's only fair that we let her choose what she wants to do with her life."
"I'll believe that when she turns 18 and you don't start putting the pressure to be an officer on her." She handed the baby over to her father. "So we're in agreement on Margaret then? I know it wasn't your favorite on the list."
"I can yell it up the stairs easily. I practiced last night, I just have a feeling we'll be yelling it a lot. Especially with the way she put us through the last nine months." Archer cradled his daughter. "And I won't have an issue if she chooses not to go Starfleet, we can't have everything about her be always perfect."
"I'm surprised that's coming out of you." Sato smiled at the sight of the two of them. "I know how much family pride means to you Jon. It takes a lot to say you won't be having issues with the choices she makes in life."
"I said career choices." The Admiral put on a stern face and looked down at the baby. "If you become a cat person, we're going to have some serious issues young lady. You can be whatever you want to be, as long as you have a love for dogs. We need to establish priorities from day one. Having a signature dessert and a dog, that's all I'm asking."
"That's the man I married." The Captain laughed. "Worried about desserts and dogs. Maybe that philophsy will help as she grows up. I can just see you sitting on the front porch with a phaser when the boys start coming."
"You bet I will be." Archer kissed his wife on the forehead. "Get some rest, I'll have your office send everything over in a bit, I know you're more than ready to get back to work."