Chapter 21

The crew was assembled in the cargo bay. Admiral Takei, Jon, Trip and T'Pol stood on the catwalk above them as Jon made the announcement. There were gasps and murmurs among the crew. Most contained concern and disappointment of not being able to speak with their families for the long period of time.

Jon held up a hand. "Ok people, settle down. Everyone will get a chance to call home before we go in. Commanders Tucker and T'Pol will be going around for you all to draw lots. You will have ten minutes of comm time. If for any reason you aren't able to reach your family at your scheduled time, get with one of them to make arrangements for another time slot. I will do everything I can to make sure each of you gets to talk to your loved ones."

This seemed to settle most of the crew as Jon saw nods of approval. There were still some that weren't too happy with the situation, which could be understood, but accepted it as part of ship life.

Once the commotion settled, Jon continued. "There is one more announcement I'd like to make. Last night Trip and-"

Trip grabbed his arm, interrupting him. "Now? You're doing this now?"

Admiral Takei leaned over. "Is there a problem Captain?" The lanky Asian Admiral asked in his deep, gravelly voice.

Jon looked over his shoulder at the Admiral. "No sir. No problem. Just give me a second?" Takei nodded and he turned back to Trip. "We have the entire crew here. Can you think of a better time?"

Trip shrugged a shoulder. "No, not really. Alright then, let's do this."

Jon turned back to the crew. "As I was saying before being rudely interrupted." He shoot a sideways glace at Trip while smiling. There were chuckles coming from the crowd. "You all know of my relationship with Trip. Well...last night we made a life altering decision." Jon got a wide grin a quickly proclaimed. "We're getting married!"

The crowd erupted into claps, cheers and shouts of congratulations. Jon and Trip stood looking at each other with grins and love. Admiral Takei gave a nudge at the Captain. "Go ahead and kiss your fiance, Captain."

Jon pulled Trip in and gave him a deep kiss that generated louder cheers from the crowd. The kiss was broken when they heard someone shout. "When's the wedding?"

Jon turned and chuckled. "We haven't set a date yet."

Trip grinned. "But soon. Very soon." He turned and looked at Jon, the smile fading from him as he saw the look on Jon's face. "What? What's wrong?"

"Trip, we both said soon before we knew about this mission. I'm sorry honey, we're going to have to wait."

Trip's shoulders slumped. "You're saying a year? Why?"

"Darling, you know that on a ship a Captain performs the ceremony. I can't say the rites for myself. We're just going to have to wait. I'm sorry."

They both became suddenly aware of how quiet everyone had gotten when Admiral Takei cleared his throat. "An Admiral can perform the rites you know."

Jon turned with wide eyes. "Admiral? You would be willing?"

"It would be my honor. Just say when."

Jon looked at Trip. "What do you say?"

"You mean now? This second?"

"Oh hell no. Chef would strangle us both if he didn't have time to prepare a full meal, proper with a wedding cake."

"Yeah. You're right. Ok, so when?"

Jon's face brightened as an idea came to him. "What about inside the nebula?"

Trip liked the idea as he started to smile. "Hey yeah. I love it. We'll be the first humans...first any species maybe to get married inside of a nebula. Oh! And think of the backdrop for the wedding pictures!"

"Ok. Now that we have that established..."

"What about halfway through?"

"I love it!" Jon turned to face the crowd. "I guess we just set a date. Four months from now. Halfway point in the nebula."

"And you're all invited!" Trip called out as more cheers erupted.

"Let's see the engagement ring!" Hoshi called out.

"Men don't wear engagement rings, Hosh. Stop it." Trip rolled his eyes at her.

"No, yeah. Where is my engagement ring, Trip? Did you cheap out on me? I feel jiped."

"Seriously? You want an engagement ring? Alright then."

Jon laughed. "No Trip. I'm just screwing with you. You don't need to get me an engagement ring."

"No, no. If my sugar pie wants an engagement ring...he'll have one." Trip grinned. (His southern twang was overly thick when he said the words "sugar pie")

Jon knew that when Trip used these types of terms of endearment, it meant that he was poking fun at him, but he went on anyway. "Seriously Trip, I was just messing with you."

XXX

As Trip and T'Pol circulated through the crowd with their buckets of lots, Trip got pats on his back, handshakes and congrats for his engagement. As they finished with the lots, Trip saw that there was still one piece of paper in his bucket. "Who didn't get a lot number? Come on. Somebody didn't get a lot...speak up."

"Did you forget to get one for yourself commander?" One of his engineers called while laughing.

"Yeah Thomas. I got one. Got yours in fact." Trip called back to him. "Come on, seriously...who didn't get one?"

Everyone looked around but no one spoke up. "T'Pol? Did you get one?" Trip asked.

"Yes. I have number sixty-two."

"Well somebody didn't..." It suddenly dawned on Trip. "Cap'n? Did you pull a lot number?"

"I don't need to pull one Trip. Anyone I need to talk to is in Starfleet Command. Just toss it in the air and whoever catches it can have my time."

"No. That's not fair. This is your lot then. I'm sure there's someone you should call."

"The only person I have is an aunt that I haven't spoken to since I was a kid and some cousins I never met."

"Yeah? Well I know a couple of people you need to talk to. My mom and dad will want a word with you."

Jon looked horrified. Trip's parents knew of their relationship and were overjoyed last time they were on Earth when Trip dragged him to Mississippi. But now that they were engaged...he wasn't too sure how his parents would react. "Maybe we should talk to them together."

"Nope. Nuh-huh. You gotta talk to daddy on your own. Sorry...Tucker rule."

Jon groaned as he grabbed at the lot. "Number fourteen."

Trip laughed. "Oh shit Jon! You get to be the one to break the news...good luck." He gave Jon a slap on the back.

"What number did you get?"

"Twenty-seven."

"Trade with me."

"Nope."

"Come on."

"No. You call mom and dad first. It'll be fine. They love you and will be so happy to hear the news. Trust me."

Jon never admitted it to Trip, but he was a little afraid of his father, he never really knew why. Mr. Tucker was always nice to Jon and made him feel like family. Maybe it was just because Charles II was such a big man with a booming voice that intimidated him a little. Maybe it was the fact that when he asked Trip to be his chief engineer, Charles II told him to "take care of my boy" with a lace of threat behind it. Whatever it was...he was not looking forward to having to be the one to tell Trip's parents that they were getting married in four months. "What's your father going to say to me?"

"I don't know. You know daddy. He's gonna say what he's gonna say."

XXX

It was Jon's turn to make a call. When the image of Trip's mother came on the view screen, her smile faded. When she saw that it was a call from Enterprise she expected to see her son on the other end and not the Captain. Her thoughts were suddenly filled with horror. "Oh God! Something happened to Trip! Charles come here! It's Jon! Something's happened."

"No, no. Trip is fine." He saw Charles II sitting down as he continued. "Nothing's happened. Well...something happened, but-"

"What happened to our boy?" Mr. Tucker demanded in his booming voice.

Jon stiffened. "Nothing sir. Trip is fine...really. He'll be calling you shortly. Look, I don't have a lot of time to talk, Trip will give you the details when it's his turn to call. It's-"

"His turn to call? Jon what's going on?" Mrs. Tucker asked concerned.

"We're going into a nebula for eight months. We'll be out of contact during that time. Everyone is getting the chance to call home before we go in. I only have a few minutes, so I have to make this brief. Trip-"

Trip's mother scoffed. "You're the Captain. You can take as much time as you want."

"Mrs. Tucker, everyone gets the same amount of time. It wouldn't be fair for me to use my position for extra time. Can I just tell you what's going on?"

"Who's stopping you? Talk already." Mrs. Tucker said.

Jon shook his head and took a hard swallow. "Trip and I are getting married."

"Oh that's wonderful! We'll get the church booked and we'll have the reception here. We'll have the entire Tucker clan over. Everybody can bring a dish for the meal! It's gonna be one hell of a shindig! You invite whoever you want, there's plenty of room. Oh, and we'll have to get Reverend Shultz from Florida to officiate. That was Trip's Reverend growing up, you know. We'll need extra tables and chairs, and then..." Trip's mother started in excitedly.

"Mrs. Tucker... Mrs. Tucker... Mrs. Tucker!" Jon tried to get a word in while she went on.

"What dear? What is it?"

"We're getting married in four months...inside the nebula."

"What!? You mean I won't get to see my baby getting married? Jon how could you!?"

Jon felt a knot in his stomach and looked at Trip's father who was scowling back at him. "I didn't say that. Hold on. I think I have an idea. I only have a few minutes, so let me talk fast..."

Later, after Trip made his call to his parents he went to the bridge. "Jon! What the hell did you do!?"

Jon looked at Trip. "What?"

"You promised my parents we'd have a second ceremony when we got back to Earth?"

"Your mother was pretty upset that she wouldn't see you getting married so...yeah. I said we'd do a second ceremony for them. Something small, just the family and a few friends."

"Do you know my parents? Tucker's don't do anything 'small'. Oh Jon! You really don't know what you did, do you?" Trip groaned.

XXX

They all stood and watched the main view screen as Enterprise got close to the edge of the nebula. "Here we go." Jon said with a mix of excitement and nervousness.

Trip reached over and took Jon's hand as he watch the screen. The Admiral eyed Trip but didn't say anything. Just as the bow of the ship broke into the nebula, Jon felt Trip pulling his hand slightly up and a small push on his ring finger as something was being slid on it. He looked down and saw a thin gold band with a small diamond embedded into it. "You wanted an engagement ring. There you go." Trip grinned at him.

Jon held his hand out, looking at the ring. "It's nice Trip. I really was just messing with you though."

"I know but..." Trip shrugged.

Admiral Takei looked over Jon's shoulder at the ring. "Oh my. Very lovely." And smiled at both of them.