" Get the dehydration formula ready."

" Yes, Doctor," said Nurse Chapel.

" A weaker potency," McCoy requested as an afterthought.

Nurse Chapel shot her employer a cheerful smile. " Of course, Doctor," she answered and she bounded off to fulfil his wish.

The gruff, opinionated Southern doctor then turned his attention on to his patient. Spock was curled up in bed, wrapped up warm in the duvet, his eyelids half-open as he dozed. At his request, Jim, Kathy and his parents had been removed from his sight, while he could think of a way to announce his pregnancy without it causing a riot. They were now all anxiously waiting outside, itching for news. Dr. McCoy outwardly let out an exasperated groan and his sapphire-blue eyes did a gambol in his sockets. Spock still looked pretty awful. If only that green-blooded hobgoblin knew when to ask for help. He walked toward the bed and picked up a syringe from the bedside table. Spock didn't move a muscle as the doctor obtained more of the Vulcan's blood. McCoy gave an unfaltering, incoherent grumble as he looked at it, narrowing his eyes to get a closer view. He walked across the room to original place again, intending to run a number of tests on the bodily fluid. Spock, having been conscious the whole time, blinked repeatedly before he felt fully awake. He swallowed hard, his throat dry and sore. He was also very aware of the bitter taste that his vomit had left lingering on his tongue. He swallowed again, this time with the urge to vomit. He looked around wildly until he realised that McCoy had placed a dish on the bedside table. He grabbed it and did what he had to do. Dr. McCoy didn't react – he was used to this kind of thing, after all – and he kept his mind on other things while his patient was being sick. Spock moaned silently when he was finished, disgusted by this action. Placing the dish back on the table, he leant against the headboard to recuperate. He licked his lips clear of the liquid that had clung to them. His head cleared up a little more, he looked in the direction of the doctor and observed the things he was doing for several minutes. He only felt ready to speak when McCoy started to grumble again while he worked.

" Must you insist on doing that irritating noise?" he asked. His voice was nothing more than a mere croak.

McCoy chuckled quietly to himself. " What, this?" he hollered in mock cheerfulness. " Why, that son of a…No good, green-blooded smartass!" he continued, mimicking his own mutterings on a louder volume.

" How very droll, Doctor," Spock weakly quipped.

" I thank you," he joked, smiling. He paused for a second before becoming serious once more. He went to join Spock and sat down in the chair by his bed. " If you were really this sick, why didn't you tell me? I know we've had our problems lately, but I'm still your doctor, ya know."

Spock didn't answer right away. He turned his head so he would not have to face the man who had torn Jim from his grip. " You would have been asleep. I didn't wish to wake you."

" Then you shoulda gone to one o' the other doctors! You coulda just told 'em you were space sick or that you ate some bad shrimp. You gotta stop keepin' up with this charade. You got a kid to think about now." The door slid open noisily. He stopped, buttoned his mouth shut as Nurse Chapel re-entered sickbay. His eyes grew wide, shifting awkwardly.

" Here's the formula, Doctor," she said cheerfully as she handed the tiny vial of liquid to him.

McCoy smiled shyly and gave an appreciative nod of the head. " Thanks. Uhh, our patient had a little accident. If you could take care of it?" he asked her. He turned his attention on to the sick-filled dish. " And I'm very sorry, Nurse, but we want a little privacy while I examine him. Trust me; you don't want to be around for that."

" Sure. If there's anything else you need, just let me know," she replied with a smile as she picked it up. Her face was full of disappointment as she turned to leave.

McCoy snapped right back into the conversation as if nothing had happened. " And what's gonna happen when it starts to get obvious? You can't hide fifty pounds' worth of baby!" he hissed.

Spock heaved a sigh, placing a hand on his growing belly. " You're right," he admitted bitterly. " I had planned to tell my parents. What I didn't plan was this nausea."

McCoy nodded. " Yeah," he muttered in a sympathetic tone. " You want me to call 'em in here?"

" Only my father," Spock requested after a moment's thought, almost hesitating. " I shall tell my mother later. She would not want to see me like this."

McCoy smiled in understanding. " Yeah." He noticed the formula in his hands. " But first, I wanna give you a hydration shot." He smirked somewhat evilly as he transferred the liquid into another syringe. " And then, I wanna do more tests. Lucky you!"

Icy glances were exchanged between the father and son as Sarek paced the room. There was no need for words, each pair of eyes held the history of their feud. It was only them in this moment of reunion, and they both unloaded their secret pain on to one another in silence. They would stop every now and again to blink, moistening the eyes with more untold emotion about the dispute. Spock was now feeling slightly stronger, after McCoy had injected a dosage of medication, so he had decided to sit up with his spine being supported by the pillow. He kept the curve in his abdomen covered with the duvet. He planned to unveil it at the right moment – whenever that may be. He glared at his father with narrowed eyes, which prompted Sarek to do the same thing. The grand Ambassador stopped to sit in a nearby chair. Sitting up straight, his feet firmly on the floor, his hands folded neatly in his lap, the science officer's father emanated every ideal that the Vulcans stood by. He furrowed his brow in what appeared to be genuine interest.

" Dr. McCoy tells me that you have important news," he began. Spock hesitated, suddenly overcome with nerves. He lowered his head in shame. For the first time in a long while, he felt unable to be honest. His father sensing this, he made an attempt to urge him on. " It is about your sickness," he guessed.

" Yes," replied Spock, his voice low, croaky and husky. " First, you must know that I made a mistake. Jim and I…We made a mistake," he admitted.

Sarek considered the thought for a few seconds, not sure if he liked it and his gaze slipped to the door momentarily. " Judging from his behaviour around Nurse Weller, one might assume that they are in a courtship."

" Yes," Spock said, nodding his head. " We have not been a couple for many months, Father. However…"

" However?" Sarek echoed. He almost sounded surprised.

" However, he does not love her. He proved it to me. And now…"

" What is it, my son?"

Spock gulped heavily and he searched the room in his blatant anxiety. He could not bring himself to face his father in the eyes. Sarek closely watched his son's behaviour; his nervous shaking, the bulging of the eyes, the fidgeting hands. Although the elder Vulcan understood the reasons why his son was nervous, he wished Spock would simply tell him. While Spock did all these tell-tale thing things, he tried to think of the right words to say. In the end, he decided to just tell it like it was.

" Father, I did something bad and now I am dealing with the consequences. I'll have to deal with it for the rest of my life."

Sarek frowned in utter confusion. He left his mouth hanging open for a second before he felt the urge to speak. " What is happening to you, Spock? Whatever it is, it can be dealt with," he said.

Subtly, the younger Vulcan shook his head. " I can assure you that it cannot. Because I have a child." The man rested a hand on the duvet, where the beating heart of his baby lay in his womb.

Sarek's fury was instantaneous. He leapt from his chair as if a fire had been lit under his seat. His anger quickly simmered, though, his breathing calmed, and he gradually found his seat again. " You are pregnant?! And with that man's child? While he is promised to someone else?" he ordered. " You are a disgrace to the Vulcan race!"

" You've known about my condition for twenty years, Father. You know it can be possible for me," he argued.

" I do not care about that! It is a violation of our agreement!"

" It was illogical of you to say whom I was not allowed to engage in sexual intercourse with. It is my life, Father. Besides, we fornicated on a regular basis before we parted ways. Your agreement was meaningless here," Spock bravely confessed. He could sense his father's anger start to broil up again. He could almost smirk at it.

Sarek let out a sharp breath, his demeanour still as calm as night. " This agreement was to prevent reproduction from ever occurring," he explained slowly in a tone which suggested that he was tired of repeating himself. " It seems that you have forgotten this."

" I have not."

" Did the Captain put you up to it?"

" No. It was I."

Ambassador Sarek heaved a deep sigh as if in great disappointment. He paused for a long moment before asking, " Was this child meant to be conceived?"

Spock hesitated before dreaming up an answer. In his heart, he desperately wanted to say 'yes', hoping that his father would not suggest the option of the alternative solution. But he knew it wasn't so, remembering that he and Jim had forgotten to use contraception. " No," he muttered.

" Then, while you are on this ship and under his command, I suggest you terminate the pregnancy. For you to end an unwanted life at this time in yours is the logical thing to do," said Sarek bluntly. He genuinely didn't know how his son would cope with the duties of a Starfleet officer and juggle the responsibilities of being a parent at the same time.

In response to this proposal, Spock gave a nod of respect for his father, even though deep down, he was unsure if it was the right thing. " I accept your suggestion, Father. I shall consider it thoroughly."

" I suggest you do," Sarek said sternly. The room fell into an awkward silence, the father and son having no things to say. Sarek gestured to the lump in the duvet. " Is that the child?"

Spock's gaze slid down to it. " Yes. Do you wish to see?" He pushed the duvet down a fraction, simultaneously lifting up the hem of his shirt. He slipped his legs out from underneath the bedcovers and he stood tall, his belly bare and proud.

Sarek made sure he got a good view of it. He frowned curiously at it. Having been a father to two sons, he realised that a bump should not be visible yet. Not at this stage, at least; especially in a Vulcan pregnancy. " It is rather large. How many weeks are you, exactly?"

" Dr. McCoy has not yet calculated an official estimation. I, however, believe I am around six to seven weeks. Why do you ask?"

His father quirked his eyebrow, deciding it was logical not to say anything. " Well, Spock. It seems that you have recovered. Would you prefer to leave sickbay and…return to work?"

" I would, Father, but Dr. McCoy has not yet finished completing the tests. I suspect that it will take several hours." As Sarek turned to leave his pregnant son in solitude, Spock brought up another subject. " You will not tell Mother yet, will you?" he asked. He was almost pleading – Sarek could hear it in his voice.

" If you do not wish me to, then I will not," Sarek agreed.

As Spock uttered an appreciative 'thank you' to his father, the door whooshed open to reveal Dr. McCoy. Behind him, Spock noticed the concerned face of the captain, who was looking anxiously in and hoping he would be let inside. The door quickly closed again as the doctor entered with a large, dusty device on wheels. As he walked past, the Vulcan Ambassador greeted him with a polite nod of the head, which prompted McCoy to do the same thing. He then left the two officers alone to wait outside with the others. They would all eventually grow bored and disperse to carry on with their work. In sickbay, Spock stared at the strange device, observing every detail with his hawk-eye vision. In his curiosity, his eyebrows lowered slightly into a frown as Dr. McCoy wheeled it closer to the bed when he instructed his patient to lie on it.

" What is this machine, Doctor? I have never seen it before," questioned Spock. He was surprised to find that McCoy had a machine like this at his disposal.

A mischievous glint in the doctor's sapphire-blue eyes shone brightly underneath the sickbay's lights. " That's because no one ever gets knocked up on this ship," he said cheekily. " This is like a kind of X-ray, but without the radiation. So it's safe to use on pregnant women."

The male cocked a disapproving eyebrow, knowing that he had made that joke on purpose.

" Sorry," he mumbled, not really meaning it. " It determines exactly what you're havin'. A boy; a girl; a litter of kittens. Whether the little guy is healthy or has any abnormalities like a third eye or…or pointed ears," he continued, deliberately making bad jokes. Knowing exactly what kind of response Spock would give, a broad smug expression formed on his rounded face. Spock detected an almost childlike excitement in the doctor. And it was true. If it wasn't for the crick in his back, he would have been bouncing off the walls with glee. At last, he had a reason to use this piece of equipment! " Too bad the image's a little faulty on this thing. I meant to send for another one in '66, but I never used the stupid thing, so I didn't see the point."

" As always, I have total confidence in you, Doctor," Spock retorted.

" Oh, shut up! The read-out is still pretty good, though, I think. It's just that I can't get a picture. Now if I can just set it up…"

This was when Spock decided it was time to tune out McCoy's prattle. The doctor's incessant rambling faded down to a slow, faint hum of a metallic drone. This way, the nervous Vulcan felt enough at ease to consider the option that his father had advised him. As McCoy noisily and clumsily connected all the necessary wires for the scanning device to work, the pros span around Spock's distracted mind like a wheel of fire in Mars' burning red sky. The pros he thought of were most convincing and most tempting, and Spock then began to understand why his father wished this on him. If he was to terminate, he would still be able to work on the Enterprise. He wouldn't have to be sent home just to take for a child he wasn't even sure he wanted; he could live out the remainder of his years the way he wanted to, and not be dominated by the offspring's endless needs. His privacy, too, would be protected. No one needed to know about the pregnancy, especially Jim, because it would kill everything he had with Kathy. Even though Spock had not taken a liking to McCoy's newest nurse, he knew it was illogical to simply harm a person's feelings without any good reason. But…The dreaded but. The cons sneaked stealthily into his brain, laying their eggs like some horrible alien parasite. But if the child, another person entirely with a beating heart, was to be aborted, Spock could lose his one and only chance of becoming a parent. After all, he had not erased that from his bucket list, if he would ever find the perfect partner. But then, with a mental scold, he told himself that it was not a question of wanting. He finally convinced himself that he was being selfish; being cruel to four lives at once. Or he at least tried to. He would be robbing an innocent baby of an entire life, sure to be filled with growing up, discovering oneself, experiencing love and loss. Perhaps Sarek was wrong. But those pros were indeed tempting to take. Torn between these two paths, Spock found himself locked inside the asylum of his body, trapped between his brain and his heart – two worlds entirely.

" Dammit!" came McCoy's annoyed bark. Spock blinked. " This thing's ain't workin'. I gotta get Scotty down here. Sorry, Spock, it looks like we're not seeing your kiddy today."

" I am uncertain if I wish to," replied Spock.

Dr. McCoy's eyebrows lowered. " What? O' course you do! Why, you havin' second thoughts?"

" I am considering my father's advice."

" Wait, lemme guess. He wants ya to get an abortion?"

" Yes," Spock croaked solemnly. " It seems that I am undecided."

McCoy heaved a deep sigh. " You'd be givin' up a lot if you do. Seriously, Spock, I can't help ya on this. It's gotta be your choice, not your father's or anybody else's."

" How do humans cope with such decisions?" he riddled in genuine curiosity.

At a loss for words, Dr. McCoy gave a mere shrug of the shoulders. " It's the hardest decision anyone can make. All I can suggest is…" he paused, not believing that Spock was asking for his advice, " make the right one."

Spock's pencil-straight eyebrows furrowed, utterly bemused. " Which is the right one?"

" That's what you gotta find out."

Over the course of that day, it became clear to everyone on the bridge that Spock was not in the mood to talk. While the Captain badgered him to take the day off to recover, Spock kept his lips stapled shut. And when fellow shipmates asked him if he was feeling better after that dreadful morning, he didn't even have the decency to reassure them. One might have simply assumed that the Vulcan officer was in a foul mood, his standoffish behaviour fuelled by misery and anger and angst. But Jim knew more than that. Spock was troubled, deeply so it appeared. Whatever it was, he wished with all of his heart that there was something he could do to help his friend even if he didn't know the cause. He wondered if the sickness had anything to do with it. But as much as Spock wished he could discuss it with another, he could not bring himself. He couldn't even raise a sound from his vocal cords. He was not sure what he was saving his voice for, but it was his mind that was working at top speed. Carefully examining all the possibilities, he leafed through all the pros and all the cons of terminating his pregnancy. What if the child was born with a disability, which would hinder its quality of life? But what if it was destined to do something great in this universe? It hurt him to make this choice. But as much as he tried, he became the embodiment of all the confusion he was suffering from. He came to a realisation eventually, however; something he was not proud of. He was to come to someone for their advice.

In almost a nervous demeanour, Spock paced the floor of his parents' quarters, his mother watching anxiously as she sat comfortably on the sofa.

" Whatever is the matter, Spock?" she questioned. " You've been acting strangely. Is everything all right? Are you ill? What's happened between you and the Captain?" she bombarded him with more questions he could not find the answer to.

Suddenly overcome with nausea once more, the Vulcan gave a mighty swallow, tempted to look his mother in the eye.

" Please, darling. I'm worried about you," she went on, the sincerity in her voice thick like honey.

Spock did a much unexpected thing for his mother. He stopped dead-cold in his tracks, turned and rushed to her side – all within a matter of seconds. With a soft, inaudible grunt of effort, he then lowered his body to the floor, his knees planted neatly on the carpet as if he was kneeling before a grand queen. And to Amanda's shock, she let out a gasp as he gripped on to her hands, squeezing them tightly so he would not be able to let them go. She could feel her son tremble with fear as the grip tightened around her wrists, but it did not hurt. And at last, as he ran his thumbs over the spines of her hands, rendering them motionless, he revealed his secret to her.

" I'm pregnant, Mother," he whispered. He laid his head in Amanda's lap, which freed her to stroke her son's ebony-black hair.

In her joy, tears began to form in her soft, human eyes and she chuckled heartily. " Is that all, my darling?" she riddled as she planted a sweet kiss on Spock's head. " Honestly, dear, I worked that out already."

He raised his head at her, his eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. This was not the response he was expecting.

" You think a mother doesn't know about these things?" she riddled again, giving a small, sly smile. " While you were being sick this afternoon…I worked it out."

" I made no implication. How did you know this?"

" Because I was never sick before I was pregnant with you, Spock."

Spock lowered his head and swallowed sheepishly, not uttering a word.

Amanda chuckled warmly and she placed a loving hand on his shoulder. " There is much to learn about a parent's love, my child. Regardless of the situation, your mother will always love you, and support you, and never ever judge you." Only his eyes moving, Spock kept his head down in shame. A soft, welcoming smile spread across Amanda's face. " Spock, you know as well as I that your father's 'agreement' was just another way of controlling you. You found your love and this is your way of showing it."

" There are other ways?" asked Spock.

Amanda nodded. " Hm. Yes, there are other ways. Some show it by saying 'I love you,' but you, my wonderful boy, you have shown it by conceiving a baby! And if you are ashamed of that, then…perhaps you don't deserve it." Spock swallowed again, which caused Amanda to smile again. She cupped his face her hands, tenderly running a finger along his jawline. " You can never disappoint me or your father."

" He told me that I have disgraced the Vulcan race," Spock whispered in a croak. " He advised me to terminate it."

Her blue eyes shining, Amanda clucked her tongue, tutting at her husband's behaviour. It was her turn to take her son's hands in hers. " Oh, no, no, no, no," she muttered.

" You do not think I should go through with it?"

" No," she admitted slowly, thinking very carefully to choose her words.

Spock was confused again. " I have thought about everything. Very last detail. Very logical choice there is. But it seems that a decision like this cannot be solved by logic. Whatever should I do, Mother?" he pleaded in utter despair.

" First," she said kindly but firmly, giving Spock a motherly pat of the hand, " I want you to stop fretting. And secondly, I want you to stop thinking about logic for a moment. Now, you must do what feels right in your heart. Not your head. Do you understand?"

For just one brief moment, as Spock leant back to return to his original standing position, an expression graced his face, his dark brown eyes shining as if he had just been enlightened by some ethereal creature. He cast his eyes upward, Amanda watching closely in awe, and to her, it seemed as though he had made his decision right then and there. What he had decided to do, no one would ever know because, just as Spock opened his mouth to announce it, Dr. McCoy's excited voice came through over the intercom. Both the Vulcan and his human mother jumped in surprise.

" Spock! Spock!"

Spock dashed to the device on the wall and pressed a button. " What is it, Doctor?" he asked into it.

" I've got the results of the scan back! As it turns out, it wasn't broken at all! It just took longer than I anticipated! You gotta get here, quick! You won't believe what I've found!"

" I'll be there as soon as I can. Spock out."

McCoy's wide toothy grin was the first thing that caught Spock's attention as he entered sickbay a few minutes later. Like several hours earlier, the doctor was close to bouncing around the room in delight. Spock cocked an eyebrow at him and he folded his arms. Noticing, McCoy stopped immediately, but he didn't even attempt to compose himself. In the manner of a small child on Christmas morning, he skipped closer to the first officer. Nothing could have prepared Spock for what the doctor was about to tell him.

" Spock! Spock, it's-it's twins!"