Baby Book - Gifts From Home
He was about to leave the bridge at the end of his shift when the call came from the transporter deck.
"Commander Spock, there is something down here for you, sir."
"For me?"
"Yes, sir, from that freighter we hailed a while ago. A crate, plainly labeled with your name, sir. They just beamed it over here. Would it be possible for you to come and claim it?"
"On my way. Spock out." Odd. He had no idea what it might be or who would be sending him a crate.
When he walked through the door into the transporter deck he saw the crate sitting there. They had moved it off the pad, down to the floor. It was fairly large. He looked at the shipping information stenciled on the top of the crate. There was his full name in very large letters - no mistake there. And it had come from Earth - from Africa, apparently. Nyota's family must have sent her something, although why it was addressed to him, he wasn't sure. He found a strap-clamp and fastened it to the crate, picking it up by the strap and carrying it off down the corridor to the turbolift.
When he came into their quarters with the crate, Nyota was immediately intrigued. She also thought it was strange that it came from Africa but with his name on it. She insisted that he open it immediately, even though he thought she would be hungry and ready to head to the mess hall. He saw the bright kanga laid on the bed ready to carry their son. But no, she would wait for food, but not to see what was in the crate. So he found his tools and opened the crate.
He lifted the lid off and set it to one side. There was a layer of protective material across the top of the contents. That went down the recycle chute. Beneath that were many folded items. He lifted the first and unfolded the fabric. A small blue tee-shirt. Nyota exclaimed, taking it from him and smoothing it out. Next he found another, slightly larger. There were four sizes. Nyota laid them out on the bed, eager for him to pull out the next item. Socks - also blue, also in four sizes. Nyota sorted them on top of the tee-shirts. He held up the next item - pants with straps attached and some sort of flap at the top. Overalls, Nyota called them. Also four sizes, in a much darker blue than the tee-shirts.
He continued to pull small clothing out of the crate for Nyota to exclaim over, sorting it all out. Everything was in four sizes. There was a remarkable amount of clothing in that crate. Of course, it was all very small, so that it did not take much room.
Under the clothing, there was another layer of protective material. Below that were several small blankets, neatly folded, some small sheets, diapers. Small items which rattled when shaken. Something with small colorful objects tied to a circle of wood with long strings that Nyota exclaimed over, saying that he would need to afix it to the side rail of the cradle so that it hung over the baby's face. It was fascinating to watch her exclaim over the things that came out of that crate.
They were quite late to supper, but she did not seem to mind at all, telling all their friends about the crate of gifts from home.