A/N: Sorry about the wait! My life just got away from me! Anyway, let me know what you guys think!

Chapter 12

It was dark as the group left the museum. Without warning, Archer's stomach let out a grumble. Trip's head turned quickly in his direction, a grin spreading straight across his face. T'Pol had also tipped her head in his direction. Trip pointed at Archer, "See, it's the perfect time to go into town! It's way past dinner time." His eyes softened as he looked at T'Pol, in a way that Archer would describe as 'puppy dog.' He had seen that look work on almost every woman he had used it on, but he thought T'Pol could resist. Archer had seen Trip try to use it on her when they had been officers on Enterprise, and she usually stared him down with her stone cold glare. To his surprise, she looked into Trip's eyes for a moment, and dipped her chin down slowly. "Yes!" Trip nearly shouted, and made a triumphant gesture. Archer could almost sense T'Pol rolling her eyes at his gesture, but he could also swear that he saw the beginnings of a smile in the corner of her mouth.

'Can't be.' He said to himself and shook his head. Vulcans did not express their emotions... yet again. He had seen T'Pol change so much since she and Trip had grown closer. Trip was not one to hide what he was feeling. And the interactions he had seen at the house, it wouldn't surprise him if T'Pol was a whole lot more expressive than he thought she was. They were standing fairly closely now, so close that if Trip leaned down just a little… he was surprised no one was suspicious something was going on between these two. He waited for them to move on their own, but they continued staring at each other, almost like they had forgotten they were in public. He couldn't help his own small smile from growing as he moved to stand closer to them. He balled up his fist, and coughed loudly into it. Finally, they looked away from each other, Trip's face started to redden, while T'Pol attempted to look nonplussed about the situation. "So, where's a good place that we can get a quick bite?" Trip shook his head a little, like he was casting off a fog.

"There is a restaurant that is frequented by aliens close to our current position." Trip and Archer's eyebrows rose at the word 'aliens', but they supposed on this planet they were the ones considered alien. Archer made the gesture 'lead the way.' T'Pol stepped forward, and the two men stepped into formation behind her. They let a few feet grow between them and T'Pol before Archer turned to Trip, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"So, what exactly happened back there?" He asked, taking a bit of pleasure at Trip's squirm. Trip placed his hand behind his head, trying to cast off the question.

"Don't know what'cha mean." Trip mumbled, his cheeks reddening again. Archer bumped his shoulder into Trip's.

"Sure you don't." He even threw in a wink, which caused Trip to blush even deeper. "But seriously, what was that?" Trip raised an eyebrow, almost to say, 'do you really want to know?'. Archer raised his hands in defeat, with a sigh. "Fine, I guess if you don't want to tell me, that's your choice. Too bad I can't order you to anymore." Trip smiled.

"Maybe one day cap'n."

X

"Well, that was… interesting." Archer said, sitting down on a chair with a plop.

"What, the part where ya got hit on by a man, or the part where ya didn't know what exactly ya were eating?" Trip chuckled, and sat next to his former superior officer. Archer ran a hand through his hair, looking confused and disgruntled. Trip's face fell slightly when he realized Archer wasn't looking amused. "What's wrong cap'n?" Archer looked up quickly, wondering if he could get out of telling his friends the problem. No such luck, as he caught T'Pol's eyes. He sighed, and leaned back into his seat.

"When T'Pol said this restaurant was frequented by aliens, I assumed that meant human. I was not prepared for all the species I didn't recognize." He stopped here, but there was more behind his disgruntlement, and his friends were not about him to stop short of telling them the real problem. "It feels like Earth hasn't gone far enough. Enterprise has made strides in space exploration, but she was only one ship. And even when we made contact, it frequently ended in gaining an enemy instead of an ally."

"Captain, Vulcan has been involved in space exploration considerably longer than Earth has. It would make sense then, that Vulcan has had considerably more first contacts than Earth." T'Pol supplied, positioning herself into the seat across from Archer and Trip. She put her hand on her belly as she positioned herself. Both Archer and Trip watched her warily until she was comfortably in her chair.

"I understand that T'Pol, but Earth doesn't even have a rule book like the Vulcans do. All captains are out there for themselves, to do in the situation what makes sense at the time. Maybe someone who has been out there can help new captains and crews by making a rulebook about what to do in certain situations. That way a captain doesn't have to wonder what to do, they will already know what to do." Trip raised an eyebrow, and exchanged a look with T'Pol, who also had an eyebrow raised. Archer looked between the two of them. "What, me?" He pointed at himself.

"Yeah, cap'n. Like you said, you would be the first admiral with experience in the actual field. Ya could make this rule book, and not be one of those admirals who makes rules that he doesn't know what he's talkin' about!"

"I concur Captain. I believe that your experience would be most useful in an administrative position. Especially now that the war is over, it will be imperative to establish rules." Archer seemed lost behind his eyes for a moment.

"I don't… I don't know." He said. Trip patted his shoulder.

"You've got a couple of days cap'n. That's why ya came here, isn't it?" Archer clapped him back, and got up.

"You're right Trip. I think I'm just going to head to bed if that's alright with you two."

"Of course, Captain." T'Pol said, attempting to get up. Archer motioned for her to stay where she was.

"Goodnight." He said, and headed to his room, his head swimming with thoughts.

X

A few hours later, he wasn't sure, he figured he wasn't going to be able to sleep. The more and more he thought about it, the more and more he was convinced becoming and admiral would be the right idea. But a part of him did not want to leave flying around space. His sense of adventure would be squashed sitting in a chair. Why should others have all the fun, when he had been through the program that made this space travel possible? He pushed himself up in bed. Yet again, he had already achieved so much. And he knew exactly what they were going through; a rule book wasn't such a bad idea. With a disgruntled grunt, he threw his sheets off his feet. If he was going to be awake worrying, he might as well be worrying over a cup of coffee. He made his way to the kitchen, without running into the other occupants of the house. 'at least I don't have to explain myself yet.' He thought, holding the cup between his hands, and then beginning to make his way back to his room. When he had almost made his way back to his room, he heard whispering coming from the living room. He had the feeling that they were talking about him, but he shouldn't listen. It could be private. He attempted to push his curiosity to the back of his mind, but suddenly, he found himself stalking his way to the living room, and hiding in the shadows out of view. Trip and T'Pol were sitting next to each other on the couch, talking.

"I can't believe ya felt the baby move earlier!" Trip exclaimed, looking down at her belly. "I didn't know that you could project those kinds of feelings through the bond!" T'Pol looked amused.

"I apologize for not just telling you, but the captain was present. I did not find it appropriate to bring up some topics in his presence."

"I know, it's alright." Trip said. They sat in silence, seemingly content. Just as Archer began to move, Trip spoke up suddenly.

"Do ya think on Earth, that half human and half other species babies will ever be accepted?" He asked, looking off into the distance. Almost as if he could feel T'Pol's question, he clarified, "I don't mean our baby. Cause no one knows our baby's not fully Vulcan, but I mean, in general. Earth has come so far, but just think about it. I didn't respect other cultures at first, I messed up a lot over the years."

"Earth just needs more experience in space travel, Trip. This ignorance will be overcome. It exists on Vulcan as well." Trip nodded, still distracted.

"It's kina inevitable that species would get together, ya know? But I guess if you haven't experienced meeting other species, you wouldn't know." He sighed. "I just wish people could see people not as a species, but simply as a person."

"Perhaps one-day Captain Archer can help Earth begin this understanding."

"Yeah, maybe." Suddenly, he perked up. "T'Pol, is the baby kicking now?" He almost giggled, T'Pol's chin dipped. Trip gently reached out a hand, and put it on her stomach. There was a moment of silence, and then Trip exclaimed. "The baby kicked my hand!" He looked gently down at the tummy, and with his hand still on T'Pol's stomach, he put his face down closely to the stomach and said, "hi baby, this is your daddy. I love you very much, and can't wait to meet you." Then he leaned back up, and kissed T'Pol quickly.

Archer backed up from this scene slowly, his mind now set. He knew was his decision was, his friends had solidified it.

A/N: Let me know what you guys think!