Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or anything Star Trek related. I only own the crazy plot that I throw the characters into.
A/N: If you haven't noticed already, there is a significant event that happens in every chapter. This chapter is about how the Uhura family deals with Miotep's morning sickness, and the next chapter is about how the S'chn T'gai family deal with Amanda's morning sickness.
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Origins: The Journey Begins
Chapter 7: One Rough Morning
STARDATE: 2235.345 (Thurs, Dec 10th, 2235) [4 months, 12 days Pregnant]
Ahadi lay in bed, his long, dark shoulder length hair sprawled across his face as he snored heavily. His arm slung across his wife's growing midsection.
The nights were getting warmer as the hot, dry season approached Kenya. Ahadi took the opportunity the rid himself of his pyjama shirt, leaving him in his long black pants.
Ahadi wasn't a large man, he wasn't necessarily that tall either, but he managed to get himself into a morning routine of running and swimming. The constant exercise toned his body and increased his stamina, two important factors needed to survive the work missions of the Embassy of Earth.
He would normally wake before any of the others. By four am he was out the door for his 10km run only to return home to finish with a couple of laps in the small lake near the house.
However, today he opted for lying lazily in bed. Today was a special day. It was the 10th of December; Denahi's 7th birthday. Ahadi smiled to himself as he reminisced on the birth of his eldest son.
"'Hadi" A croaky voice sounded from beneath his arm.
"Yes, Upendo? (Love)" He answered her from behind.
"'Nahi's birthday 'day." She managed to say. She swallowed, hoping her saliva was enough to sooth her dry throat.
"I know. Can you believe that it has been only seven years?" He said in realisation.
"Seems longer. How many more years do we have until we're child free?" Miotep asked now attempting to turn over in the bed to face her handsome husband. Miotep's belly was still quite small, which made it easier for Miotep to turn over. Miotep didn't want to think about what the coming months would do to her trim body.
Ahadi quickly calculated before answering, "Well, including these babies, and assuming that all of our kids leave home at 18," He rubbed Miotep's swelling belly, "we have 18 and a half years, until we're child free. You're not regretting the twins are you?" Ahadi seemed truly concerned.
"Never!" Miotep exclaimed. "I wanted this. Well, I was surprised when we found out that we were having twins, but I'm not regretting anything. I'll have stretch marks everywhere, and I'll have stomach flab that I'll have to tuck into my pants, buts it's all worth it. These kids are worth it." They fell into a comfortable silence.
"18 years," Miotep mused loudly, "How old will we be?" She asked, dreading the answer.
"I will be 55. You will be 52." He stated simply.
"52!" Miotep sat up straight. Well, as straight as she could get. "My life is…"
"Full of wonderful children." Ahadi answered with a chuckle as he sat up and enveloped his wife in a hug.
"Speaking of wonderful children. It's Denahi's birthday today." Miotep repeated.
"You've said that." Ahadi chuckled again.
"Really?"
"Yes." Ahadi didn't even bother hiding his laughter. His wife's baby brain entertained him dearly.
"I have to bake a cake." Miotep whined as she tilted her head back.
"If I remember correctly Denahi wanted a banana cake."
"Yes, and I have to make it." Miotep said as she started to get herself out of bed. Just thinking about cake baking made her sick to her stomach. "I hate morning sickness." She added as she rubbed her belly and sat back down on the bed. "I think these girls have it in for me." She said as she looked down at her belly.
"How so?" Ahadi queried.
"Remember how sick I got with Sehale?" Ahadi nodded. "Double that. I've never felt so sick in my life." Miotep was constantly queasy. Unfortunately, the only way for her to feel better was to throw up, and she couldn't force herself to throw up, she had to wait until her body told her. She hated morning sickness.
"Just think, you only have five months to go. Maybe even less." Ahadi tried to comfort her, reaching out his arm to rub Miotep on the back.
"How is that supposed to make me feel better?" She turned to face him with a glare that would frighten lions.
Ahadi tried a different approach, "You're sister is coming around early. She'll help you make the cake."
"What about Denahi's friends? Who's going to entertain them?" Miotep calmed down.
"Hey. You're looking at the finest USS Starship of the United Federation." Ahadi smirked.
"Yes, well don't come to me when the engines have failed from prolonged exposure to warp speed." Miotep said before getting up and getting ready for the day.
After a long, hot shower, Miotep dressed and headed downstairs. She still hadn't thrown up and her queasiness was getting stronger. The kids were already up and running about the house by the time she made her way into the kitchen. She had to remain focused if she was to make a banana cake before the guests arrived. Why hadn't she done this the day before? Oh, because Denahi only asked her last night.
A knock at the door brought Miotep out of her trance. She was currently in the pantry looking for bananas, but couldn't find any. "Sehale! Kupata mlango! (Get the door!)"
Sehale came bursting through the back door and ran through the hallway. He halted before he hit the door. He grabbed the handle with two hands and pulled the door towards him. The door swung open revealing a pretty young African woman dressed in bright clothing with a large smile plastered on her face.
"Aunty Ashantis! Mama, it's Aunty Ashantis!" Sehale screamed from the doorway. He was so excited that he bounced up and down shaking his hands as he went.
Miotep stopped searching for the bananas and came to greet her younger sister. Miotep gave Ashantis a bone-crushing hug. As she pulled back her bracelet got caught in Ashantis' tightly braided hair. Sehale raced off to go and inform his brother and sister of their aunty's arrival.
Ever since birth Ashantis' hearing wasn't the greatest. During her time in the womb her mother contracted the Andorian Flu, causing her to be born with limited hearing. As she grew older her hearing continued to diminish until the hearing aids she wore were of little use. She could only hear higher frequencies; the lower frequencies she could not pick up at all.
Although the hearing aids didn't help her that much, Ashantis still wore them to hear the gentle buzz that they provided. She had become so accustomed to the gentle buzz that it kept her calm and sane. She also found that if she didn't have her hearing aids in, people would talk to her, mistaking her for a hearing person.
"Sorry, Ash." Miotep signed to her sister after she had extracted her bracelet from her sister's hair.
"No problem." Ashantis said. Although she was deaf her speech was quite good for a deaf person. There were some words that she couldn't pronounce and her 'S's' would turn into 'Sh's' and every now and then her 'H's' would be replaced by 'G's'. She often made up her own words and people would struggle to decipher her true meaning. She didn't need a translator, but conversations did seem to go smoother if they had one there. Miotep often translated for her sister when they were conversing with other people.
Ashantis was also very good at lip reading. She could read lips from a great distance. If anyone said anything bad about her or her family she wouldn't hesitate to pull them up. She was a stubborn, raging bull when it came to protecting her family.
Miotep led Ashantis into the kitchen. Within minutes Denahi and his friends, Rojan, Tarlow, Osanna, and Vitani raced into the room, Sehale bringing up the rear. They were yelling and screaming with joy.
Miotep couldn't recall when Vitani arrived, but the little girl seemed to just blend in with the rest of them. Miotep couldn't look at the group of kids running in circles without feeling nauseous.
Miotep struggled to watch on as the young kids ran around the island bench before hiding in the walk-in-pantry. Miotep kept hearing 'Shh' and 'Quiet!' before Ahadi came into the kitchen with arms pointing out in front of him like guns.
"This is the Klingon warbird calling to the Klingon mothership. Mothership come in. I have lost all traces of human life forms." Ahadi spoke in a low, gravelly voice. He circled the island bench a couple of times. "I will not rest until I find—AHH!" Ahadi screamed like a high pitched whistle.
Ashatis' hands came to her ears to adjust her hearing aids. Miotep slapped her husband on the arm (out of fright, of course). Next thing they heard was an equally high-pitched roar coming from the adjacent hallway.
"What is that?" Ashantis said as she continued to rub her ears.
"I'm the Enterprise! Zoom! Zoom! Rescue you!" Came a small voice from the hallway. Two-year-old Nanenna appeared from the hallway and without hesitation jumped onto her father and began to bash him.
"Klingon warbird is down! I repeat, Klingon warbird is down!" Ahadi said from his position on the ground in the middle of the kitchen.
"Can you take this outside, 'Captain Pike'?" Miotep said as she made her way over to the pantry.
"Of course, Your Majesty." Ahadi bowed, motioning for his young daughter to do the same.
"Take these with you." Miotep said as she opened the pantry door, only to see the kids eating the last of the bananas.
"Not the bananas!" Miotep exclaimed. Sehale saw his Mama's face and spat his mouthful of banana into his hand and lifted it up to her. Miotep turned around and covered her mouth in an effort to stop herself from throwing up. She didn't. Although, she felt a lot sicker now than she had been earlier.
Ahadi told Sehale to get rid of his mushy banana. Sehale shrugged and put the banana back in his mouth. Ahadi quickly ushered the kids out of the kitchen towards the backyard, getting them out of the kitchen so the ladies could make a start on the cake.
Ashantis went over to her older sister. "They're outside now."
"Thank you, Ash. Can you do me a favour?" Miotep asked making sure her lips could be seen. "Can you run to the store and pick up some bananas?" She signed to her sister so Ashantis knew what Miotep wanted her to do.
"Yep. I be back shortly." Ashantis said. Even her speech patterns had grammar problems, but that didn't worry anyone. As long as they could understand what she was trying to say, it didn't really matter to the rest of the family. Ashantis grabbed her keys and darted out the door.
Time passed and Ashantis returned to the house with a big bag. Miotep stared at the bag while she continued to adjust the oven's temperature. Surely not. She thought.
"I couldn't find any bananas so I got pumpkin instead." Ashantis said as she plonked the bagged pumpkin on the table.
"Ash. It's supposed to be a banana cake! How am I going to make banana cake with pumpkin?!" Miotep struggled to keep calm. Her nausea wasn't helping her either. She had thrown up twice since Ashantis left for the store and her stomach still wasn't settled.
"Oh. Sorry. I thought you said 'if you can't find bananas get pumpkin'." Ashantis replied.
"When did I say that?" Miotep asked. She was now thoroughly confused. It could've happened what with her baby brain and all. Then again Ashantis was deaf and tended to make up her own version of certain conversations. Who was right? No one would ever know. All Miotep could do was go with it.
"Before I left." Ashantis looked at her sister and saw her confused look. She felt sorry for her older sister. She had never seen her so out of it before. "We could always make pumpkin bread and pretend it was banana cake." Ashantis offered a small smile.
Miotep chuckled softly. "That sounds like a good idea. It wouldn't look the same and Denahi would be able to tell the difference but it's better than nothing."
Before long Ashantis was getting the baking dish out from the cupboard and Miotep was mixing the ingredients in a big, green, glass bowl.
Miotep held the bowl firmly in the crook of her left arm and whisked the ingredients together briskly. Miotep didn't know if it was the smell of the pumpkin or the look of the mix, or a mixture of both, but it didn't sit well with her stomach.
"Ash, I don't think I can do this much longer." Miotep said between gags.
Ashantis looked up from the cupboard, "What was that?"
Miotep continued to whisk and gag simultaneously. Thankfully, Ashantis saw the ill look on Miotep's face and made a dive to grab the bowl off of her sister before the mix was spoiled.
"I'll do this." Ashantis said and continued to whisk away while Miotep found a nearby stool and placed her head in her hands and breathed slowly.
"It's the smell." Miotep stated, "The smell of pumpkin is making me sick."
"Vick's Vapor Rub." Ashantis responded, although her pronunciation wasn't quite right.
"Huh?" Miotep said with her head still resting on her hands.
"Vicks. Remember when I had Andorian Flu?" Ashantis prompted.
STARDATE: 2215.165 (Wed, June 14th, 2215)
…Approximately 20 years ago…
Ashantis' hearing loss was the outcome of having Andorian Flu during her development in the womb, which unfortunately meant that she was more susceptible to the plague than most other people.
Ashantis was nine years old when she contracted the Andorian Flu for the first time. Her class had guest speakers from every planet that were currently a part of the United Federation. It just so happened that the Andorian had given Ashantis the Flu unbeknownst to him.
The Andorian Flu was merely a common cold to Andorians. However, if a human contracted the disease it was considered harmful, life-threatening and in some cases fatal.
So now Ashantis was in bed with a bag of ice on her head, thermometer in her mouth, socks and slippers on her feet, and piles of blankets encasing her small body.
"Mio-*cough*-tep." Ashantis wheezed from her bed. The Flu had made Ashantis' tongue go numb and her small body swell to the point that her hearing aids couldn't fit in her ears. She didn't have the constant buzz that her hearing aids provided that kept her calm, and her tongue made her speech quite slack. She was sick, uncomfortable, unstable and completely scared.
Miotep, being just across the hall on her own bed, heard her sister call out and went to see what was wrong. Miotep entered the room and used her shirt to cover her nose. Ashantis' illness was considered mild, which meant that the Flu she had was not contagious. That was the good news. However, because she was already susceptible to the Flu, she would have to endure the symptoms longer than the usual time in order for her to recover completely.
Even though Ashantis wasn't considered contagious Miotep didn't want to take the chance. She saw the pain her sister was in and she didn't want what her sister had, but that didn't stop her from visiting her sister and comforting her by playing games or talking.
"I can't smell." Ashantis confessed as saw her sister enter the room with her shirt covering her nose. She fiddled with the hem of one of the blankets. Her arms were too weak to sign.
Miotep saw just how fragile and pale her sister was. She looked scared. "I'll get you some Vicks Vapor Rub." Miotep stated unaware that she still had her shirt up to her nose.
"I can't hear you." Ashantis responded. Her sister's shirt was blocking the view she had of her sister's mouth. Miotep was 14. She had lived nine years with her sister but at times she still forgot that Ashantis needed to see her lips to be able to 'hear'.
"Sorry." Miotep lowered her shirt and repeated what she had just said before exiting the room to find the Vapor Rub. She would do anything to make her sister feel better. She no longer cared about contracting the Flu. If it meant her sister would get better, she'll do it without complaining.
On her return Miotep signed to Ashantis to raise her head. Ashantis, through a series of coughing fits, managed to raise her head high enough for Miotep to apply the Vapor Rub to her neck and chest.
"Nose." Miotep said, making sure Ashantis could see her lips moving. Ashantis looked toward Miotep as she sister gently applied the Vapor Rub to her nose.
Ashantis sniffed a couple of times before exclaiming, "It's working! I can smell!" Miotep smiled and continued to distract Ashantis by singing, reading, talking and playing games.
The Flu lasted 16 days before Ashantis was back on her feet and a further two days before she was allowed back at school.
…Present Time…
"I'll go get the Vapor Rub." Ashantis said and made her way to the downstairs bathroom.
Miotep looked at the clock. If she didn't get the mix in the oven soon then Denahi wouldn't have any cake at all.
Miotep made her way back over to the mixing bowl. She gave the pumpkin mix the evil eye before slowly picking up the bowl and attempting to stir the contents inside, without throwing up.
Ashantis returned with the small container of Vapor Rub. She marched over to Miotep, who was behind the counter stirring the mix and gagging, and reached out towards her sister's nose with a Vapor Rub covered hand.
Miotep didn't have time analyse what Ashantis was trying to do before she felt her sister's slimy hand collide with her nose, spreading eye-watering goo all over it. Surely she didn't put this much on her sister when she had the flu.
Miotep wiggled her nose and the strange sensation and continued to blink as chemicals in the Vapor Rub reached her eyes.
"Too much, Ash! You put far too much on." Miotep said she continued to stir, blink, sniff and cough.
"But it's working, right? You don't need to gag." Ashantis proudly pointed out the obvious as she wiped the Vapor rub off of her hand.
It was true; Miotep had stopped gagging. Miotep supposed she would rather have her nose smeared in the unbreathable substance then puke into the pumpkin mix.
Miotep looked at her sister in realisation; she had stopped gagging. Why didn't she think of this before? She looked down at the bowl in her hands. There was no trace of the awful pumpkin smell at all.
As Miotep continued to stare at the bowl a big blob of Vapor Rub that was smeared on her face came rolling down the bridge of her nose and, quite literally, nose-dived into the pumpkin mix below.
Miotep halted all actions and just stared at her sister, who had her hands over her mouth in shock. Or was she attempting to hold her laughter in?
"We'll just make another batch." Ashantis finally said after removing her hands from her mouth. She walked towards her older sister and tried to grab the bowl off of her only to have Miotep yank the bowl away from her grasp. Ashantis just looked at her sister.
"There's no time!" Miotep exclaimed as she poured the mix into the baking container and roughly placed it in the oven.
Evening came and everyone was called inside for dinner. After dinner Ahadi nominated himself to retrieve the cake.
On his return to the crowded table the lights were dimmed and the candles were lit. A strong chorus of 'happy birthday' filled the air followed cheers and finally the candles were blown out.
The lights came back on and the candles were removed from the cake. "This isn't a banana cake." Denahi said, very confused. Did his parents not know what a banana cake was?
"No, Sweetie, it's not, I'm sorry. It's a pumpkin cake. But you guys ate all of the bananas before I could use them and so Aunt Ash had to run to the store." Miotep said from her seat next to Ahadi.
"If Aunt Ash ran to the store why didn't she get bananas?" Denahi asked. He was not being rude. He was simply curious.
"I asked myself the same question." Miotep replied quietly and ushered Ahadi to start cutting the cake.
"Who wants a piece?" Ahadi yelled in a very dramatic way. Hands shot straight up from all sides of the table. Miotep quickly left the room, blaming it on her uneasy tummy while Ashantis excused herself for the bathroom.
Miotep watched the children from the other room, being careful not to make herself seen. She buried her head in her hands as the small mouths started to eat the pumpkin cake. After a couple of minutes praises started rising from the table.
"This is really good!"
"Thank you, Mrs. Uhura!"
"There must be a special ingredient!"
"This is the best pumpkin cake ever!"
"Tastes yummy!"
"Can I have another one, please?"
Miotep's smile got bigger and bigger. Ahadi noticed and said, "What are you smiling at? What did you do?"
"I made a cake without throwing up." Miotep answered honestly.
A/N: Ashantis is based off of my deaf aunty, Sonia. All the characteristics that Ashantis has, I've taken from my bless you, Aunty Sonia.
