Spock quietly stood in the doorway, content to watch his bondmate as she nursed Seren Adia out on the terrace. Saoirse Ta'an slept in one of the cradles at her feet. It was pleasing to realize that he was a part of the scene, even when he had been elsewhere.

Nyota looked up from the tiny bundle in her arms. The bond worked both ways.

"A package came for you today, k'diwa. I left it inside on the desk," she whispered. "The Enterprise picked it up from Starbase 15 after we'd already left, and this was the earliest they could send it on. It's from Val Vancampen. I think it came from her. Not a just company selling her work."

The reverence in her tone was not surprising. While he had told her he was acquainted with the renowned fiber artist, she had never questioned the extent of their relationship. Spock turned from the doorway and returned to the bedchamber to retrieve the package.

"It is more than likely that Auntie Val has sent us another baby gift," he told her as he carried a rectangular parcel, roughly the size of four boxes designed to hold the shoes of a Terran woman out to the terrace. "I mentioned your pregnancy when I last spoke with her, and she said that she would 'whip up a little something for those little girls.'"

Through the bond, he sensed her surprise turn into shock.

"Auntie Val?" In deference to the now-sleeping infant, she did not raise her voice, but the incredulity was evident. "You said you knew her, but you never told me you were that close."

"My mother met her during one of her visits to Earth. For many years, they corresponded and exchanged quilting patterns and techniques," he told her. "During my first year at the Academy, Val frequently 'checked in with me.' She doubtlessly reported information concerning my adjustment to my mother. She took her role as 'adoptive aunt' quite seriously. After my second year, she insisted that I spent at least part of any extensive breaks with her and her family.

He took a chair close to his bondmate's chair and the cradles, and opened the box.

"She has sent handmade 'quiet books.' Terran crafters in the twenty-first century made them popular articles to pacify children during event where silence was expected," he told her. "Auntie Val is also a quilting teacher and her work is held to be responsible for much of the renewed interest in the books."

He traced a long finger over the intricate appliqué of a brown dairy cow grazing in a pasture. Strips of silk fabric — nearly fine enough to be mistaken for embroidery — in varying shades of green, made a texture he believed his daughter's infant fingers would find interesting.

"Val believes that the books should be stimulating as well as pacifying. This series is meant to correspond to each of several levels of their development."

Nyota stood and placed Seren Adia in her cradle, then joined Spock in looking over the contents of the package.

"These are beautiful," she breathed. "I had no idea she also made such wonderful things — and by hand, no less — for babies. These must have taken ages. I think girls are gonna love 'Auntie' Val!"

Spock turned to another page in the book. This one showed a red domesticated fowl pecking at glistening yellow "seeds" in a barnyard.

Yes, he thought, Auntie Val tends to have that effect.


A/N: Thanks to "Auntie Val" (starquilter) for the gifts.

Disclaimer: I don't any Star Trek characters or concepts. All character based on real people have been depicted with the express permission of the person in question.