It was a warm Friday afternoon and Amanda was in the middle of sorting art supplies when her PADD chirped. She tossed the watercolor kits into a plastic tub and reached behind her to grab her PADD and check her messages. It was from her sister, Clarissa.

Hey you,

I'll be in town in two weeks. Can't wait for you to show me a good time. Save space on your couch for me.

Your sis

Amanda started to reply when she received another message almost immediately.

Oh, and who is this Vulcan guy you went to a baseball game with? Mom sent me a video from the holos. We want details.

Clarissa

Amanda grimaced. Apparently last Sunday had been a slow news day and Sarek's impressive catch was the most interesting thing the media could find to talk about after the few hard news stories had wrapped up. Her mother had called later that same evening to ask about it and she'd explained Sarek was just her friend and she'd been at the game with several other friends and he'd been such a good friend to catch her when she'd fallen. She'd said the word "friend" so many times in that short conversation with her mom that it probably sounded stilted, rehearsed, and weird.

She'd also fielded a few questions from her colleagues on Monday when she'd come into work – everyone at school remembered Sarek from the fair – but most people had forgotten about it by now and were focused on packing up the school for the five week summer session break. She gazed around her classroom, thinking she still had so much to do to get ready for a new batch of second graders later that summer.

Amanda hit the button to dictate a response to Clarissa, explaining that Sarek was just her friend when she received a third message from her sister.

Also, baseball? You like baseball? When did that become a thing? And where did you meet a Vulcan guy? What is that like?

Me

Amanda didn't even have time to formulate a thought before a fourth message came in.

Oh, and do I get to meet him?

You know who it is

She held down the dictation button and said, "Can't wait to see you. My couch is your couch. Me and the 'Vulcan guy' are just friends."

She chuckled and set her PADD on the floor under her chair. Amanda was outgoing, but her older sister was an indomitable social butterfly. Clarissa was flaky and fun and had a remarkable talent for inviting herself to things without making it seem rude. Even though Amanda and Clarissa looked so much like their mother, they both joked they'd been adopted because their mother Judy was so quiet and reserved.

She couldn't imagine Clarissa and Sarek in a room together making conversation; Sarek was so introverted and private and Clarissa was so gregarious and open. She'd known her sister her whole life — in the most literal sense — and would have never doubted Clarissa's ability to get anyone to open up about themselves… until she'd met Sarek. If Amanda weren't falling for him, it might have been an interesting experiment to lock them both in a room together and see what emerged 24 hours later. Best friends? A speechless Clarissa? A rattled Vulcan? Who could say?

She put the lid on the box of art supplies and stacked it on one of the back shelves, pausing to look at the empty playground behind the school. Sarek had thought the fenced in play area was so strange. He'd implied young human children were stupid for not knowing they shouldn't run out in the street, and then their conversation had devolved into a verbal scuffle. How far he'd come since then. How far they'd both come.

It was funny how often she thought of Sarek. Even the tiniest of details would spark some memory of a conversation they'd had or a time they'd spent together. She had a baseball sitting on her kitchen table that demanded she recall the feelings she'd gotten when he'd held her in his arms on the steep steps of the baseball stadium every time she looked at it.

Maybe he hadn't held her in his arms as much as stopped her from face planting on the stairs, and maybe stumbling and flailing around like a drunk trying to catch her balance had been embarrassing, but the touch of his hands on her body had felt… she didn't have an adjective. She blushed.

Amanda looked around her classroom and sighed. She felt restless and on edge. She'd said goodbye to her students yesterday for the summer break and not only would she miss them, she now had nothing to occupy her time besides getting things ready for the next group of students. And thinking about Sarek. And wondering what she would do with the rest of her summer. And the rest of her life.

She'd decided at the last minute to volunteer for Adventure Camp, a program that took kids from Piedmont Academy on day trips to nature preserves and protected parks around the continent, but that didn't start until June 12th. That meant a whole week of sitting around doing nothing, and Amanda wasn't very good at that. From a young age, she'd lived her life from one project or event to the next, but she'd been in a bit of a rut lately.

She hadn't heard back about the Andorian educator exchange program yet. She was certain she would have been notified by now and figured it was safe to assume she hadn't gotten the position. She wasn't shocked — she didn't have very much teaching experience and didn't have a graduate degree either. But she couldn't deny she was disappointed. And maybe relieved. The more she dwelled on it, the more she wasn't sure how she felt. Going to Andoria for two years had sounded so exciting, but the idea that she would have to pack up her life and move light years away was also a bit too overwhelming, even for Amanda's taste.

Since her chances of going to Andoria grew smaller each day, she tried to focus on her next set of goals, but she didn't know what they were. She hated feeling stagnant. It could be weeks or even months before she found out the status of her graduate school application and if that didn't pan out, she had no idea what she would do.

She realized she was probably being silly. If she didn't get into grad school, she would keep teaching second graders at Piedmont Academy, finding new projects to juggle, and spending time with her friends. That was a good life and there was nothing wrong with that. But surely there was nothing wrong with wanting more? With wanting to tackle some new challenge or adventure? So maybe moving to Andoria by herself was a little too challenging and adventurous when she really thought about it, but staying in San Francisco doing the same thing year after year was definitely too boring.

She stretched her arms above her head and scowled. Sometimes she felt like it was such a burden to have a wandering soul, but she had always been that way. Her mother loved to tell the story of how she was walking by eight months old, presumably because she'd decided at that early age that sitting still just wasn't an option from the moment she discovered the use of her legs.

Toward the end of high school, before she'd decided on a career in teaching, she'd occasionally had wild thoughts of joining Starfleet. How exciting it would have been to travel around the quadrant and even the galaxy, meeting aliens from other cultures and seeing new things and never staying in the same place for too long. What had ultimately put her off of Starfleet was the sober realization that not all aliens were friendly and though new things could be exciting, they could also be deadly. There was just too much they didn't know about the universe.

She recalled Tim Dorner, a boy who had graduated from Amanda's high school a few years ahead of her, had enlisted in Starfleet as a crewman. The survey vessel he'd been assigned to had been charting some space anomaly somewhere and had simply vanished without a trace. Such things were supposedly uncommon, but not uncommon enough to make her feel comfortable with donning a Starfleet uniform.

It had been nine years, but the fate of Tim's ship remained a mystery. Her high school had held annual candlelight vigils for a few years, but those had eventually fallen by the wayside as people moved on with their lives. Amanda wanted more for her life than to end up dead or missing at a young age, remembered only by her friends and family and a tree planted in her honor at the school she'd graduated from. Maybe that was her biggest problem — she still hadn't figured out the right balance of adventure and caution for her life.

Amanda's PADD dinged again, snapping her out of her reverie. Assuming her sister had messaged her back to pester her about Sarek some more, she ignored it and made her way over to the mathematical learning aids. She had just started to sift through a hodgepodge of place value cards, 3D shapes, dice, spinners, dominos, and rulers when her PADD emitted another cry for attention.

She tapped the screen and her jaw dropped as soon as it illuminated. The first message was from the Andorian Education Directorate and the second was from Nareen, the Andorian ambassador's wife. The first one was notifying her of her acceptance to the Federation Educator Exchange Program and was full of instructions about the documents she would need to submit to get final approval for her work visa as well as copious information about living and working on the planet.

Her hands were shaking as she skipped to Nareen's message.

Miss Grayson,

I heard from my sister-in-law who heard from a friend that the Education Directorate sent out its decision notices this afternoon. I also heard from a friend who heard it from another friend that you were selected. I wish to offer my congratulations, both in this message and in person. Would you be available for tea at my home on stardate 2226.43 at 1130 hours? I believe that corresponds to next Wednesday, by the Terran calendar. Jila has also asked me to send my regards.

Cordially,

Nareen Tarnas

She felt numb. There was so much information to process all at once. She'd been accepted. She needed to get ready to move to Andoria. She needed to quit her job. She needed to pack. She needed to accept an invitation from an ambassador's wife to go to tea. She needed to brush up on Andorian tea customs. A soft ringing began to reverberate through her ears.

"Knock knock," uttered a soft voice in the doorway.

Amanda was slow to look away from her PADD, but when she did, she found Millie standing there. Her friend had been morose and aloof ever since the missed marriage proposal at the baseball game last Sunday; Amanda had been trying to give Millie her space and let Millie decide when she was ready to talk about it. Judging by the look on her face and the posture of her body, Amanda sensed she was getting ready to invite her to lunch to rant about Pete and how dense and clueless he was.

"I'm done with sanitizing most of my learning aids," Millie continued. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to lunch?"

Amanda lowered her PADD and nodded. Millie cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

"You look pale," Millie noted. "Don't tell me you just got bad news or something?"

"I got it," Amanda murmured, finally smiling as the reality of the situation started to sink in.

"What?" Millie asked. "Now your face is glowing. What's up?"

"The position on Andoria… I got it!"

Millie's mouth snapped shut, but only for a moment. Whatever personal pain her friend was going through, she'd always been the kind of person to set it aside when it really mattered. "This is so exciting!" Millie exclaimed. "When do you leave? Oh my God- I'm going to miss you! But you have to go! Eeek!"

"I was so sure they were going to turn me down," Amanda said, uttering a small laugh and leaning back on one of the short desks to study the message again. "And I got invited to have tea with Ambassador Tarnas' wife. She asked me to meet with her. Me, at an ambassador's house."

"You've done that before though, right? Didn't you say you went to some ambassador's house with your Vulcan boy toy?"

Amanda would have shot her an annoyed look for the casual implication that Sarek was some kind of pet or romantic fling, but the mere mention of him immediately stalled her exhilaration. Going to Andoria would mean saying goodbye to Earth, and Sarek lived on Earth. How strange that she didn't feel the same sadness over the idea of leaving her other friends and loved ones. Maybe it was because her family and close friends would still be waiting for her when she came back, but who could say what would happen to her casual friendship with Sarek?

"You don't have to be so sensitive about it, you know," Millie clucked.

"Huh?"

"I hope you know I was teasing when I said that bit about your Vulcan boy toy," Millie explained. "I actually like Sarek; I think he's a good guy. And Pete adores him, as I'm sure you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Amanda murmured, looking at the message Nareen had sent her without really reading the words. "And yes, to answer your earlier question, I went to the ambassador's house, but that was with Sarek. I mean, he is a diplomat. I'm just- I'm just a teacher."

"If you're just a teacher, then what am I?"

"You know what I mean," Amanda sighed. She knew Millie was right, but she was too occupied with absorbing all this information and trying mightily to avoid thinking about Sarek.

"You were so happy and now you look like someone died," her friend exclaimed. "I've been in the dumps all week. One of us needs to be happy!"

"I'm… over the moon," Amanda lied.

"Then tell your face," Millie chuckled, crossing her arms and walking into the classroom.

"I really am excited," she insisted, forcing herself to smile. "It's so much to take in; I'm overwhelmed."

"I thought overwhelmed was just your normal state," Millie laughed. "Always too much going on but always somehow getting it accomplished. Speaking of which, how much time do you have? You know, when do you leave for Andoria?"

Amanda toggled back to the message from the education directorate. "Stardate 2226.58.317?"

"Uh… when is that?" Millie shrugged, making a funny face.

"I have no idea," Amanda admitted, thinking Sarek would probably know. She lifted her PADD to speak clearly into the microphone embedded at the top of the device and asked, "What is the Terran date for stardate 2226.58.317?"

"August 1st," the PADD's singsong voice replied.

"Great, so I have less than two months to get my life packed and in order," she sighed, feeling the urge to drop everything she was doing and run home and start sorting through her belongings. "I also only have four days to learn the ins and outs of having tea with an Andorian ambassador's wife. Learning all the rituals of lunch was daunting enough. By the way, did you know napkins have to be folded in half lengthwise and placed in your lap with the opening facing to the left but when the meal is over, they should be refolded into a triangle and placed on the table to the right side of the plate with the opening facing to the right?"

"What are you talking about?" Millie laughed.

Amanda scowled and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. "Andorian dining customs. They're insanely complex. I studied for hours for that lunch I went to with Sarek."

"Well, consider studying for tea good practice for when you live there, I guess," Millie shrugged. "Speaking of lunch, I'm starving. Do you want to talk about this over a salad at the deli?"

"Sure."

"Oh, and speaking of Sarek, is he coming with you to the barbecue on Sunday?"

"As far as I know," she replied. "I haven't heard from him since the baseball game."

Amanda felt a pang of sadness at the idea that she was now facing an official countdown of Sundays she had left to spend with Sarek. Were it up to her, they would go somewhere more private. She felt like she'd barely spent any time with him last Sunday due to Sarek's near perfect recall and Pete's unhealthy obsession with a sport that had surpassed its heyday by a few centuries.

Millie started to talk about the upcoming barbecue and eventually opened up about her bitter disappointment that there was still no ring on her finger, but Amanda was only half listening. Her thoughts were focused on having tea with an ambassador's wife, Sarek, Andoria, Sarek, moving, Sarek… She marveled at the fact that she had gone from being worried about having too much time on her hands to having none at all. Such was the life of Amanda Grayson.

Sarek gazed out the window of the consular car at the sparkling water of the bay. He did not suppose he would ever grow accustomed to residing on a planet with such an abundance of water, but perhaps he would not have to. He exhaled and read the Vulcan Science Academy's message again.

Preliminary findings from a joint research project between the United Earth Space Probe Agency and Andorian Science Directorate have raised serious concerns about the nature of interstellar turbulence and its impacts on extended deep space missions and Starfleet's 50-year strategic plan. The Federation Science Council has asked the Vulcan Science Academy to lead a research team in conjunction with Terran, Andorian, and Starfleet scientists to further investigate the phenomenon. As you have previously performed exemplary work on this subject for the past 15 Standard years and have recent experience in interplanetary collaboration, you have been selected by the Academy's committee of advisors to supervise this project, which is scheduled to begin on stardate 2226.66.805. We await your decision and require a response within 21 Standard days.

Chief Councilor V'Nar
Vulcan Science Academy

Though the offer was unanticipated, it was an honor to be chosen for such a prestigious position. Supervising a large joint project was a prerequisite for serving on the Vulcan Science Academy committee of advisors. He had only been at his current posting at the consulate for 82 days, but it would be illogical to refuse the committee's proposition.

Ambassador Selden would be returning tomorrow; Sarek would speak with him about this opportunity then. The ambassador was a fellow scientist and would appreciate the importance of accepting a supervisory position of a joint research project between the Vulcan Science Academy and other Federation and planetary agencies.

There were only 88 days until the project would begin, but making arrangements to return to Vulcan would be simple. He had brought few personal belongings with him and prior to arriving on Earth, he had employed a caretaker to manage his small house on the back of his family estate on the outskirts of Shi'Kahr. There was little to do aside from submit his resignation to the ambassador, inform Councilor V'Nar he intended to accept the position, and arrange for travel to return to his home planet.

That should have been the end of his thoughts on the matter, but something troubled him. He had come to Earth at his father's advice due to the minor scandal his presence at T'Rea's bonding ceremony had caused, not because he had any interest in serving as a science attaché. Though many members of his family had diplomatic and political aspirations, Sarek had never experienced an urge to share in that tradition. He had always been captivated by science, astrophysics in particular.

Returning to Vulcan would mean occasionally encountering T'Rea, but that was not what presently concerned him — time, distance, and meditation had healed those wounds. Returning to Vulcan meant leaving Earth, and leaving Earth meant leaving Amanda. It took longer periods of meditation to sort out and suppress his feelings for her each time they shared each other's company. It had taken hours of reflection over the course of several days to process just several seconds of physical contact with her at last week's baseball game, and his emotions regarding that encounter were not yet fully quelled.

They had been descending the stairs. His eyes had been on the batter, and seeing the precise angle of the bat and the declination of the pitcher's arm as he'd pulled it back to throw the ball, Sarek already knew the ball would be deflected into the stands at their approximate location. He had been in the middle of processing that when he'd sensed a powerful surge of panic and turned to Amanda to see what was the matter, and realized her fear was the instinctive result of falling. She'd reached out to him and he'd caught her around her torso, and though he knew humans had a much lower bone density than Vulcans, he'd been surprised by how little she weighed.

The feel of her ribcage in his hands had induced an autonomic response within him he hadn't ever anticipated. He'd become aroused. He had only snapped out of his momentary lust by remembering a stray baseball was due to land nearby, and he'd wisely turned and caught it just before it made contact with the side of her head. It had traveled at a velocity significant enough to cause soreness in his hand for several days; had it actually struck Amanda, it would have certainly fractured her fragile human skull or even possibly killed her.

There was so much about those 4.3 seconds he still had difficulty understanding. Before that incident, he'd only been able to sense her presence, not more specific emotions. Excepting emotional exchanges between bonded mates, non-psionic telepathy was extremely rare in Vulcans, but he'd sensed her fear without any physical contact. There were only two possible explanations. He had either developed an ability to sense emotions within others despite the absence of a permanent mating bond — something he'd never previously been able to do in his life — or his informal bond of friendship with her had deepened to a point where it bordered on a mating bond.

It not only disturbed him that he could feel what she felt, but that touching her in such an intimate, albeit necessary, manner had made him instinctively want to mate with her on a subconscious level. If he could sense her emotions, could she sense his? He wasn't sure. Humans were not a telepathic species. It certainly hadn't seemed like she'd been aware of his physical desire for her, because she'd spent the rest of the game asking if he was "ok," to use her oddly imprecise human term.

As he had on so many occasions, he wondered if it was wise to continue meeting with her. What had begun as an arrangement to acquaint each other with different facets of their respective cultures had become a friendship, but now forces within him hungered to be with her in ways that were inappropriate. He had already spent a great deal of time rationalizing why it would be illogical for a Vulcan to take a human mate — not that Amanda had ever indicated any interest in becoming his mate — but now that logic dictated he should return to Vulcan to progress in his scientific career, his continued attraction to her had become even less prudent.

Even if their species were theoretically compatible, their individual lives were not. They had different plans and ambitions; their lives had intertwined for a brief period, but that period was coming to a close. Her lessons had been invaluable to his short-lived diplomatic career and would likely prove useful when he worked with human colleagues in the future. He would be forever grateful to her, but they were not suited to each other.

He detected a thrum of nervous excitement and sat a little straighter. The car pulled onto a wide street with long rows of single story houses on each side. This district was very near Amanda's, and though he was not certain which was the correct house, he knew Amanda was near. He felt her more strongly than he ever had.

He closed his eyes and worked through a series of elementary meditative techniques to pacify his emotions. He reopened them when the vehicle drifted to a stop, instantly noticing the tall woman in a white and yellow dress with large, dark eyes and a yellow piece of fabric in her hair. Amanda.

The pace of his heart quickened and the sight of her made him instantly recall their last encounter, the way his hands had traveled up her midsection as he'd prevented her from falling. The sight of her and the mere thought of that incident produced another involuntary sexual response in his body. He frantically tried to push it from his mind, but she wore a broad smile on her face and was waving at him. He couldn't ignore her. He swallowed, adjusted the fit of his trousers, and slowly opened the door.

"Hi stranger," she said, giving him a small grin. "Right on time, as usual."

"I believe we are well acquainted," he replied stiffly, unsure why she would refer to him as a stranger.

"I know," she replied. She was smiling, but he got the impression she was anxious. "So anyway, everyone's out back. Want to come with me?"

Sarek followed Amanda around the side of the house to a small gate in a red wooden fence. A curious aroma of smoke and other unidentifiable scents hung in the air. His earlier research had told him a barbecue was a meal or gathering at which food, usually meat, was cooked out of doors on a rack over an open fire or on a grill. He did not consume meat, but he had already accepted Pete's invitation.

There were a total of eight people in the large yard: Pete, Millie, and four adults he did not know stood on a deck, and two female children who were running along the back grassy portion of the lawn. They were holding each other's hands and giggling, which Sarek found intriguing.

After some casual research, Sarek now knew humans exhibited handholding behavior for a number of reasons, both social and psychological. When done between adults, it signified romantic attachment in most contexts. It could enhance feelings of intimacy, demonstrate to others the existence of a pair bond, or reduce anxiety when one or both parties were threatened or anticipated the experience of pain. In essence, holding hands for human adults shared many functions of the Vulcan finger embrace.

Unlike Vulcan practices though, handholding was also common between adults and children as a means of physically directing and protecting the younger individual. It had seemed so peculiar the first time he'd witnessed it at the beach, but what would be a moderate social taboo for Vulcans was apparently perceived as natural among humans.

But what could be the function of handholding between young children? Were they beginning to explore and experiment with aspects of intimate adult relationships? He glanced at the adults on the high wooden deck attached to the house, noting they seemed oblivious to the children's activity. All children behaved inappropriately at times — social boundaries were taught and not inherently understood — but it was the responsibility of their caretakers to teach them correct behavior, particularly in such a public setting.

"Are you ok?" Amanda asked, looking at him.

"I am," he replied. "I was unaware there would be children present."

She looked over to the girls and asked, "I hope that's ok? There should be at least one more kid coming. That's Maria and Kayla — they're Ray and Mark's daughters."

"They are… sisters?" he asked, studying them more closely.

They now had both of their hands clasped together and were spinning in circles, clearly enjoying the sensation of the centrifugal force of their movement. They did bear a moderate resemblance to each other — both had rich brown skin, dark eyes, and black hair. Amanda hadn't reacted to the sight of them holding hands, so it was logical to conclude this was also typical behavior among children, perhaps as a game or sign of familial companionship. Fascinating.

The gate opened behind them and two people walked through — a tall man with an olive complexion and shiny black hair and a woman with much darker skin, so dark is nearly appeared blue. He had never seen another mammalian, humanoid person with skin as dark as this woman's, but the brilliant undertones in the color gave her face a distinctly lovely quality. She was quite beautiful indeed.

There was a moderate amount of diversity within the Vulcan population. Those who resided in the hotter, drier regions of the planet with less vegetation tended to have darker complexions and thinner physiques than those who hailed from cooler climates, for example, but humans were far more diverse.

A third person appeared between them, a child, and judging by her features, she was the offspring of the two people she currently stood between. The moment she spotted the other female children twirling in the distance, she exclaimed, "Bye mom!" and sprinted in their direction.

The woman made eye contact with Amanda, shook her head, and laughed. "You know how kids are."

"How are you doing, Fatou?" Amanda asked, pulling the woman into a hug.

"So good," the woman laughed. "Jason and I are expecting another one."

Amanda pulled back and clasped one hand over her mouth and the other hand over the woman's belly. He had never seen her perform this unusual gesture.

"Congratulations!" Amanda cried, hugging the man. "When did this happen?"

"Do you mean when did it actually happen or when did we find out?" the man laughed.

The woman Amanda had addressed as Fatou gave the man an ugly look and a gentle slap on the shoulder with the back of her hand and replied, "We found out two weeks ago. It's a boy this time."

"When are you due?"

"January. At least it won't be summer this time. I had Mari in July and those last months were miserable."

Using the available information, Sarek deduced the woman was pregnant. How peculiar they would discuss such a private matter so openly. Pregnancy and childbirth were perfectly natural events and it would be illogical to pretend such things didn't occur, but Vulcans would consider it mildly indelicate to openly refer to the pregnancy and extremely inappropriate to ask a female the approximate date she anticipated giving birth.

Sarek looked away and made eye contact with the man. He smiled, extended his hand and said, "Hey there, I'm Jason. Jason Kim."

How regrettable that humans seemed to insist on touching hands for all manner of interactions. Just as he had done with Pete the Sunday before, he steeled his mind against unwanted mental transference and quickly shook Mr. Kim's hand, replying, "I am Sarek."

"Oh, I guess I should have started with introductions," Amanda said, offering a nervous smile. "So I see you've already met Jason, but Sarek, this is Fatou, Jason's wife."

Fatou gave him a warm expression, but rather than offer her hand in a handshake, she raised it in the ta'al and said, "It is an honor to make your acquaintance. Live long and prosper."

Sarek nodded and returned the greeting.

"I should also probably go introduce you to everyone else," Amanda said, nodding her head in the direction of the deck.

Just as she finished speaking, Pete's face appeared over the edge of the deck and he called, "There's the man of the hour! Sarek! How are you?"

Amanda led their group up to the wooden deck where they greeted Pete and Millie and Sarek was introduced to Raymond and Mark, the parents of Maria and Kayla. They were mates, or husbands, to use their term, which Sarek found fascinating. Same sex partnerships existed on Vulcan as well, and though they weren't as common as opposite sex marriages, they were hardly rare either. One of the few socially accepted reasons for terminating an arranged childhood bond stemmed from one or both parties realizing they had a sexual orientation incompatible with their intended mate.

Sarek was also introduced to a man named Andrew, who insisted on being called Andy, and a tall woman with long golden hair named Devon who he presumed was Andy's mate based on their incessant hand holding. He greeted each in turn, forcing himself to bear a number of uncomfortable handshakes in the interest of observing human customs.

Pete was wearing an apron and brandishing a set of tongs with one hand and holding a drink in a glass bottle in the other. Fatou and Millie quickly ushered Amanda and Devon to a long table covered with a bright green cloth and several colorful dishes and Pete motioned for Sarek to join the group of males. He had never been to a party where the guests were segregated by gender, but perhaps the split had occurred randomly. Or perhaps this was how barbecues were held, though he had encountered no mention of this custom during his research.

"This is the guy I was telling you about!" Pete exclaimed.

"Pete sent us the video of you catching that fly ball last weekend," Mark added, taking a swig from a glass of yellow and green liquid. "That was incredible!"

"Incredible is defined as something that is impossible or nearly impossible to believe," Sarek replied. "It was merely a demonstration of hand-eye coordination and my understanding of simple geometry and physics."

Mark blinked a few times and then laughed. Sarek noticed Amanda staring at him over Mark's shoulder. She started to walk in his direction, but Millie said something to her and she paused.

"Can I get you something to drink? Beer? Water? One of these disgusting mint juleps Mark likes?"

"What is a mint julep?"

"It's a cocktail, made with bourbon, sugar, and mint."

"What is bourbon?"

Pete, Mark, Jason, Raymond, and Andy all turned to stare at him in fascination. They began a joint lesson in teaching him about various mind-altering liquids humans consumed, each which apparently contained different quantities of ethyl alcohol. Andy was in the middle of explaining that vodka didn't have any taste and that was the whole point of vodka when Pete looked up from the circular grill and asked, "How do you like your burger, Sarek?"

"What is a burger?" he asked. The group gave him another incredulous look.

"A hamburger," Pete laughed. "It's ground meat made into a patty, served on a bun, usually with cheese and tomatoes or lettuce or ketchup or whatever."

"I do not consume meat," he explained.

"Then what do you eat?" Mark and Andy asked simultaneously.

"A plant based diet," he replied.

"These burgers, they're modeled after meat, but people stopped using real animal meat a long time ago. Modern meat is produced in some kind of machine that assembles proteins or something."

"Yes, proteins derived from several species of bacteria," he replied, remembering a similar conversation he'd had with Amanda during their first meeting.

"What do you mean, bacteria?" Raymond asked.

As he had done with Amanda, Sarek explained the process of harvesting amino acids from specially cultured bacteria for use in protein re-sequencers. When he'd finished detailing the specifics, the group had grown quiet and Pete was staring at the food he was preparing with unusual focus. "Really, bacteria?"

"Yes," Sarek replied.

"Is everything ok over here?" Amanda asked suddenly, appearing next to Sarek.

"Of course," Pete murmured. "Can you tell Millie the bac- uh, burgers are ready?"

The parents herded their children indoors to cleanse their hands and the adults began to converge on the long central table with the green tablecloth. Sarek waited for direction on where he should sit, but none was given until Amanda motioned for him to join her near the end of the table. Soon plastic plates were passed around and people started shuffling a number of brightly colored dishes from person to person, adding portions of food to their plates.

"The main course is burgers and hot dogs, but the beans, slaw, and melon are all meat-free," Amanda murmured, offering him a bowl containing something that looked like a red lentil stew.

"Thank you," he replied, careful to avoid touching her hands as he accepted the dish. The beans were delicious, the "cold slaw" was unusual but edible, and the green and orange melon reminded him of extremely sweet gespar. The red melon was more fleshy and contained seeds, but it was also palatable.

He was already aware humans preferred to draw out the length of meals out by holding discussions as they ate, and Pete and Millie's barbecue was no exception. He was quiet through most of the meal, preferring to focus on extracting the black seeds from his red melon. He listened as Fatou announced to the larger group that she was expecting another child, listened as Amanda talked to the three young girls about their schooling, and listened as Pete and Andy talked about their mutual profession, which involved something in agriculture research.

Andy's mate, the blonde woman named Devon, was sitting directly across from him and when he finally looked in her direction, she smiled and asked, "So Amanda was telling me you work at the Vulcan embassy? What exactly do you do?"

"I serve as science attaché to the Vulcan Consulate to Earth," he replied.

"That sounds really interesting," she said. "I take it you have a scientific background?"

"Yes, I hold an advanced degree in astrophysics," he explained.

She uttered a low whistle. "I'm a geologist. I doubt my math skills are sharp enough to handle the calculations you must do on a daily basis."

"I am not currently working in the field," he admitted, thinking that he would due to resume his career as an astrophysicist soon enough.

He canted his head to his right to look at Amanda, noting that she was studying the food on her plate with unusual interest. He needed to tell her he would be leaving in several months, but he would prefer to have that discussion in private.

"Did someone say math?" Pete suddenly asked from the other end of the table. "Sarek is a math genius. You should have seen him calculating stats at the ballgame the other day. Watch this — Sarek, what's 761 times 8,942?"

Sarek was about to answer that it was 6,804,862 when Millie groaned and said, "Don't mind him, Sarek, we invited you here as our guest, not our calculator."

The meal came to a close half an hour later and Sarek began assisting in clearing the table, as would be expected of a guest in a Vulcan household following a midday meal. Millie and Pete insisted they required no help, so he followed Amanda down the deck's stairs and onto the lawn below where the children had resumed their play.

There was a small garden lining the base of the deck featuring flowers of all shades of red, pink, yellow, and purple. He was in the middle of examining a grouping of short plants with an unusual odor and golden flowers when Amanda said, "Those are marigolds."

"Are you familiar with horticulture?" he asked.

"Not really," she admitted. "My mom has a green thumb. Not me though."

"Why is her thumb green?"

Amanda covered her mouth as she laughed. "It's not literally green. It's an expression meaning someone is good with growing plants."

"I see."

He glanced around. The children were playing near the back fence and Raymond, Mark, Fatou, and Jason were standing by a shed on the far left side of the lawn watching them. Millie was sitting at the table on the deck talking to Andy and Devon. Noting that they had a relative degree of privacy by the garden, he contemplated telling her of his offer from the Vulcan Science Academy, but she spoke first.

"So, there's something I should probably tell you…" she began.

Before she could speak her mind, Pete cut her off. "Can I have everyone's attention?"

The gathering fell quiet and turned to see Pete standing in the middle of the deck. The parents had collected their children and moved forward to hear Pete more clearly.

"So I know it's been a while since we got together like this," Pete laughed. "And we've got some new friends here. Welcome to our little group, Sarek and Devon. Uh, anyway, it's uh- it's great to see everyone. I had another reason for planning this get-together, and it has to do with the incredible woman sitting right over there."

Pete gestured to Millie, whose face had suddenly turned a brilliant shade of red, much as Amanda's often did.

"Oh my God, he's going to do it," Amanda whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Do what?" Sarek murmured.

"So Millie and I have been together for years and like anyone, we've had good times and bad times, and a few times when she's threatened to kick me out and probably should have," Pete continued. "But she stuck with me, and I love her for it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a black box, took several steps toward Millie, and said, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, Millicent Rogers, will you marry me?"

He fell to one knee, opened the box, and held it out to Millie. Millie had begun crying, presumably because she was so distressed by his offer of matrimony. Despite her tears and much to Sarek's surprise, she vigorously nodded her head and exclaimed, "Yes!" Pete stood and Millie threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss so passionate Sarek felt compelled to look away.

Claps and cheers rang out through the yard. Amanda bounced up and down and clutched her chest. Were human marriage ceremonies really so informal?

Everyone made their way back up to the deck to congratulate the new mates. Sarek didn't know them well and wasn't sure what would be appropriate to say, so he simply revised the Vulcan marriage blessing and said, "May you find contentment together."

The guests began to leave soon after, but Amanda remained to talk to Millie. Sarek wasn't sure if it was correct for him to stay also and he was considering sending a message to Tavik to come collect him when he overheard Millie say, "I know you're going to be so busy packing and all, so I won't bother you with helping me plan the big day, but you have to find a way to come back to Earth for the ceremony. It wouldn't feel like my special day without you here."

Amanda glanced sidelong at Sarek and nodded. "Of course I will."

Sarek was perplexed by the exchange. Where was Amanda going that she would have to come back to Earth for a ceremony? Had she been selected to teach on Andoria after all? The thought troubled him, though it shouldn't have, given he was also departing Earth soon.

"I'm so happy for you, Millie," Amanda added, pulling her friend into a prolonged hug. "Sarek and I should probably get going. I'm sure you have a lot of calls to make, but I'll see you tomorrow."

Sarek and Amanda bid their goodbyes to the new couple and exited the yard through the same gate they'd come through. When they reached the sidewalk, Sarek pulled out his PADD to notify Tavik, but paused when he saw Amanda watching him.

"Are you going back to the consulate?"

"Do you have an alternative suggestion?" he asked.

"It's about 1600 hours," Amanda mused. "I know you didn't eat much at the barbecue, so is there any chance you'd like to come to my house for dinner? I feel like I still owe you from that time I invited you over and then led you past a park where you got attacked by hornets."

Sarek had never been so eager and so reluctant to accept an invitation. He had not been truly alone with her since she'd brought him dinner in the hospital. He enjoyed the contentment he felt in their private moments together, but the idea of being alone with Amanda also stirred certain impulses that he wished to avoid experiencing. He also needed to tell her of his appointment to the supervisory position of the research team, but now he was having conflicted thoughts about that as well.

"As I recall, you brought me dinner at the hospital, as well as a shirt," he replied. "I believe it is I who am indebted to you."

"Well then, if you really feel like you owe me, you can repay me by joining me for dinner."

"Then I accept."