Hello! The Spirk sprog is about to receive a name! This turned into quite a long chapter without me really wanting it to, so sorry about that. If you're in a rush, you might just want to scroll down the bottom, because the name's down there, but you'll miss a bit of a story I quite like. :)

The usual thanks for reviews, favourites and follows, they still make my day!

Star Trek owns me.

J.M.H.

'When can we see the wee thing then?' Scotty asked, pouring himself a second whiskey.

'Soon. We're still busy getting used to her ourselves.' Jim swirled the whiskey around. 'Anyway, I wouldn't have thought you were the kind of guy who liked babies.'

'Jim, I have nineteen nieces and nephews. If I did nae like kids I'd be screwed. What you gonna call the lass?'

'To be honest Scotty, we have absolutely no idea. I think Spock's been thinking about it. I heard him muttering different Vulcan names when I left this morning.'

'Vulcan names?' Scotty questioned.

Jim sighed. 'That's the thing. We haven't actually talked about names together. I think he's going to want to give her a Vulcan name. I don't know why I think it, I just have a feeling.'

'There's many a good name come from my land,' Scotty said, raising his tumbler of whiskey up a little, as if in honour of the highlands.

Jim snorted. 'Thanks Scotty,' he said, and clinked their glasses together.

'Oh, I mean it Jim. Real great names. Things with fire in them, things with spirit.' Scotty's eyes almost seemed to glaze over as he thought of his homeland. 'Scotland's a fine place. Great whiskey, good food, pretty wee lassies,' he cast a sideways glance at Jim, 'and lads.' He grinned. Jim tried to glare at him, but couldn't hold the expression, face breaking into a smile. 'I can't lie to you though, lad. Would it surprise you to know that maybe it wasn't just the ladies who got to me?'

Jim's eyes widened. 'Scotty!' he said incredulously. 'For real?'

The engineer winked, his inhibitions lowered by drink.

'Well that's a drink I owe Pavel,' Jim grinned. 'We need to keep much closer tags on that kid.' He stood up, 'Speaking of which, I have my own 'wee one' to get back to now,' he said, mocking Scotty's way of speech just a little.

'O' course Jim,' Scotty nodded sagely, proffering forward a tin of mints. Jim took one gratefully. He wasn't sure Spock would appreciate the smell of alcohol on his breath. 'And remember, you were never here.'

'Aye-aye, Mr Scott.' Jim gave a small salute, drained his drink, and left the underground distillery that definitely did not lye in the pit of Engineering. He thought back to his last few words to the engineer. He had a kid to get back to now. His kid. He was responsible for another life. He had created it, and now he would nurture it, true love by his side. True love, he thought incredulously. You're going soft. Softer than a freaking marshmallow. All the same, the thoughts were nice ones, and they made little butterflies lurch in his stomach when he thought about what was to come.

He punched the code into the keypad outside their quarters, and smiled as the doors slid apart, and he saw Spock, bare-chested, tunic and undershirt removed and folded on the arm of the couch, with their baby cradled to him. They were both asleep. Jim had dealt well with the newborn's needs; his years of insomnia acting as training for the customary lack of sleep a baby brought. Spock, however, was not holding up so well. True, Vulcans could survive much longer on much less rest than the average human, but it was the disruption of routine that got to Spock, and left him so lethargic the last few days.

Jim sat down next to them, picking up the PADD Spock had next to him. Spock had made it into their baby-log, and was documenting the little girl's sleeping hours, feeds, changes, and anything else he considered significant. So far, this was the observation that she was prone to sneeze twice immediately after each feed. A call down to the medical bay had reassured Spock that this was normal, and simply the baby's way of clearing her respiratory passages. A check of the log showed she was due another feed. Jim kicked his boots off, leaving them where they lay in contrast to Spock's neatly folded clothing, and moved across to fix her a bottle for when she woke up.

As if on cue, the baby began to grumble just as Jim tightened the bottle's top. She waved her arms frantically, still not quite aware of how they worked, and woke Spock. He looked down and whispered to her, trying to calm her down, and greeted Jim with a small smile.

'How are you?' Jim asked, throwing himself heavily back down on the couch and passing Spock the bottle. He raised it to the baby's lips, and she took it immediately, sucking hungrily.

'Adequate. Somewhat better now that you're here.'

Kirk planted a kiss on Spock's temple, and held out a finger for the baby to grab. She clamped her fingers around the digit, and he smiled. 'Glad to hear it. Sorry I'm late. I thought you'd be able to cope, and I got held up reprimanding some stupid ensigns who had been fighting in Engineering. Ended up having a chat with Scotty.'

'We were fine,' Spock said, 'weren't we Baby?'

'Really Spock? Gotta be honest, I didn't expect you to be talking to the kid when she can't even understand it. Seems kinda frivolous for a Vulcan.'

'Actually, Jim, there is research to suggest the more a child is spoken to at a very young age, the more acquainted it becomes with both the language around it and its parents' voices.'

'Hmm,' Jim nodded. 'Interesting.' He sighed inwardly. He would have to bring it up sooner or later. Now was just as good as later. Why was he always the one who had to start these things?! 'There's another thing. We can't just keep calling her Baby. Now, I know you want a Vulcan name, but-'

'Jim,' the Vulcan interrupted, 'I have no such intentions. What gave you that impression?'

Jim stopped and looked at him. 'Are you sure?' he asked. 'Because I know I heard you speaking Vulcan to her before I left this morning. I thought you were trying out different names on her.'

'I was speaking Vulcan,' Spock admitted, 'but only because I would like her to grow up with the language. Whilst I am keen to bring a child up in this environment, especially with you, I would not like her to lose the other side of her heritage.'

Jim sat back and thought for several moments. 'I'm sorry,' he said eventually. 'I hadn't thought about it like that.'

'It is of no real consequence,' Spock brushed the issue away with little feeling. 'But I do agree with original statement that she does need a name, and, considering her primary environment and one half of her parentage, it is perhaps best that this name is Terran.'

Jim thought. Sure, that had been what he wanted to say. That had been what he wanted. Now though...

'Why not give her both? A Terran and a Vulcan name?' he said. Spock looked at him, tilting his head to one side a little. 'Loads of humans have middle names. Give her a normal first name,' he winced. 'Sorry. A Terran first name and a Vulcan middle name. That way when she's here she can be called something more human, and then, when she's with Vulcans or visiting your father or anything, she can use her Vulcan name.'

Spock seemed to consider this as he tipped the bottle up, allowing the baby access to the last of the milk.

'Yes,' he said, 'I think that would be suitable.'

'How do you name a Vulcan?' Jim asked.

'It is different for individual clans,' Spock explained. 'In my clan, it was the meaning of the name that was significant, rather than the name itself. For example, T'Aria was named to mean 'lady of resolute life'. That was part of the reason my father suggested her as a surrogate. Her line consists of fertile women and healthy babies.'

'Oh, OK,' Jim nodded. 'Hey, what does your name mean?'

'It was more a choice of my mother than my father. It means 'resembling half of each other's heart and soul'.'

'Aw, Spock that's beautiful!' Jim said, with meaning. 'Let's name her like that, please!'

'Also,' Spock continued, apparently ignoring Jim as he placed the bottle on the coffee table and winded the baby, 'each name has a true Vulcan form as well as its federation standard spelling and pronunciation, varying in complication. In its true form, my name would be pronounced as spo'k'hat'n'dlawa.'

The baby sneezed twice, as usual, and Jim's jaw dropped just a little. He wasn't even going to try to copy the wave of Vulcan consonants that had washed forth. He reached out, and took the baby from Spock. 'OK,' he said uncertainly, drawing out each syllable. 'So... any names you like that spring to mind for this one?'

'Actually, my mind had wandered towards a relatively common and pronounceable name,' Spock said, replacing his shirts now the baby was with Jim. He had been reading about the importance of skin-to-skin contact when bonding.

'Let's hear it.'

'It is T'Pren, the meaning of which is 'lady little dream'. It can be given as a symbol that the child is a thing of wonderment, i.e. a 'dream come true' for the parents, as I believe you would put it, or that the child itself may be one who dreams or thinks deeply. Do you have any opinions?'

'Spock, it's,' Jim searched for the right word, 'it's gorgeous! What's its full fancy Vulcan thing?'

'If you are referring to its Golic Vulcan form, then it is t'sai pi'run. The t'sai prefix simply means lady, and it creates the T' prefix when translated to federation English. It can be used or dropped mostly at will, as it is really only used to denote the sex of the individual. Vulcan names are for the most part androgynous.'

Jim nodded. 'OK. I could get that. Say it again.'

Spock repeated the name, and allowed Jim to mangle its pronunciation several times.

'I like this whole name meaning thing,' Jim said, once he grew bored of butchering the ancient language. 'What do you know about Terran name meanings?'

'The etymology of names was a passing interest of my mother's; she taught me a relatively high level of specification on the subject.'

'Oh,' Jim said, thinking. 'What does my name mean?'

'Supplanter,' Spock informed him, without missing a beat.

'That's not a good thing, is it?'

'Not entirely,' Spock conceded.

Jim shrugged. 'Never mind. I want to name her something with a meaning though. Something really good. Something with passion.' His earlier conversation with Scotty returned to him. 'Something with fire!'

'There are names with such meanings,' Spock supplied. 'If you are serious about a name with fire, the name Edna means directly that.'

'Edna?' Jim stared at the baby in his arms. 'Spock, that's the sort of name my great-great-great-grandmother would have had!'

Spock shrugged. 'A more contemporary choice is the name Seraphina, which rose to prominence around the middle of the twenty-first century, and has its origins within the Christian church, and the mighty Seraphim angels.'

Spock continued to talk, but Jim had ceased listening. He was whispering.

'Seraphina,' he looked down at the baby, who had most of her fist in her mouth, and was drooling. He looked around, and pulled a cloth off the coffee table, wiping her chin dry. He traced a finger around the smooth curve of her face. 'Seraphina.' He repeated the name several times as Spock continued his lecture.

'I like it!' he said eventually.

Spock stopped talking, and looked at him. 'I sense your concentration dissipated some moments ago.'

'Sorry,' Jim said, without any real meaning. 'Seraphina. It's perfect. Look at her Spock; tell me she's not supposed to be called Seraphina. Seraphina T'Pren.'

'And for federation purposes I would consider it appropriate to give her the last name Kirk.'

Jim nodded. 'Except on Vulcan. Then you can call her... whatever you call each other.' He grinned sheepishly, realising exactly how little he knew about the customs of his husband's planet.

'Indeed. Her name shall need to be registered. I conversed with Doctor McCoy; he informed me that Nurse Chapel is the appropriate personnel member to register the names of children born on board the Enterprise. Shall I call down to the medical bay?'

'No,' Jim said, shaking his head, 'I'll go down. I want to tell Bones anyway.'

Spock took the baby back, and watched Jim's hurry to pull his boots back on.

'Your excitement is irrational, Jim,' he said.

'I know,' Jim nodded. 'And I don't care.'

Spock watched his husband dart out of their quarters.

'Seraphina,' he whispered. The little girl yawned. 'Seraphina T'Pren Kirk.'

He looked up suddenly as the doors reopened, and Jim's head appeared again. He could not have made it down to Medical so quickly.

'Also,' Jim panted, 'did you know Scotty's bi?'

And with that, he disappeared again.

Hope it was nice!