I Naviganti 2: "K'lalatar Prnak'lirli K'lalatar Prkori
(Infinite Combinations in Infinite Diversity)"
by Monica MicioGatta
with Seti's collaboration.
Author's note: Please, let me know if you like this story. Translate is a hard work, and it's not worth it if nobody's reading.
§26
«I'll go.» whispered Trip sleepily.
«No, leave it to me.» T'Pol turned, but the Trip stopped her with one hand on her shoulder.
«No. It's my turn.» he said.
«You said that the last four times.» T'Pol turned on the dim light on the head of the bed.
«I don't even need to get up.» he said, as he slid towards the foot of the bed. He picked up his daughter who was crying like mad. «Oochy-woochy kootchie-koo» he said.
«"Oochy-woochy kootchie-koo"?» asked T'Pol.
«Yes, it's an obscure Earth dialect.» Trip said, teasing her. «Ask Hoshi if you want a better explanation. Uhm...»
«What?»
«I have to change her. She made about five liters of pee.»
«I'll deal with it.»
«Nah, I'm already up.» He took the girl into the bathroom to change her diaper. «Hello puppy.» He said. «Hello Elizabeth.» He took the diaper off: it always amazed him how much pee such a small baby could make. «Hello Elisa. Hello Beth. Hello Betty. Hello Lisa. Hello Lizzy. Hello Liz. Hello Lisy.» He came in the room with the baby in his arms while she held her head on his shoulder.
T'Pol felt an incredible feeling of tenderness. In these moments she was glad that she had used trellium-D in the past. «Why do you say hello to her in all those ways?»
Trip sat on the bed, holding the little one to his chest. «"Elizabeth" doesn't feel quite right.» he said.
«In what sense?»
«Well, she doesn't look like an "Elizabeth ". So I tried Elisa, Lisa, Beth, Betty, Liz, Lisy, Lizzy...»
«Lizzy is cute.» T'Pol said.
He looked at the baby, who seemed to be more awake than both of them. «Lizzy?» He kissed her forehead. «Maybe.» He stroked her little ears. «I've thought about it a lot, T'Pol, and I think T'Mir is better.» He lay down, keeping the baby on his chest.
«You should put her in her cradle.»
«Dr. Spock says it's OK to spoil children...»
«Dr. Spock?» She asked.
«An American doctor who lived a couple of centuries ago. My mom followed his teaching.»
«Oh, that Dr. Spock.» She said. «Yes, I read some of his theories when I was in San Francisco. Many are outdated.»
«Well, anyway, she is the only child I have, let me spoil her.» He patted the baby on her back, while she, with an expression of satisfaction, went back to sleep peacefully lying on her father's chest.
It occured to T'Pol that Trip had another daughter too, in a sense. She decided not to mention it because his other 'daughter' didn't share any of his genetic material, and had been taken away before she was fully grown. And most of all she didn't want to reproach him – yet again – about that.
He continued. «And when we have another little one, I'll spoil that too, because it will be my only second child.»
«And if they're twins?» T'Pol teased.
«Uh, I'll spoil both of them, being my only twins.»
The Vulcan turned on her side, resting her forehead on his shoulder. «You know that Spock is also a Vulcan name?»
«Spock? But how can you call a baby "Spock"? It's a horrible name. You want to harm a child calling it that...»
§26bis
Trip turned back when he felt someone sneak into bed. T'Pol had just left to start her shift.
«Is that my Lizzy Vices?» he asked.
The child squatted beside him, resting her head on his chest. «Hello daddy.» she said.
«Hello T'Mir.» He kissed her forehead. «Only two minutes, then we have to get up.»
«Oof, why so early?»
«Because Hoshi is coming down to the surface with us today, so she has brought your lessons forward.» He stroked her hair, bangs as black as those of her grandfather, as short as those of her mother... disheveled as those of her father in the early morning.
A few months after T'Mir was born they had been on holiday to Vulcan. Since T'Pol hadn't written to her mother more than a couple of times since their return from Vulcan after the end of the mission against the Xindi, T'Les was completely unaware of the evolution of their relationship. At first she was very cool to all three of them, but after Trip had repaired a few of the appliances in her house the Vulcan began to be more gentle with him.
Trip had later discovered that the new grandmother had already made many secret expressions of affection to her granddaughter – in the Vulcan way - from the first hours of their stay on Vulcan.
«Take care of my granddaughter.» she had said, in her impassive Vulcan tone, shortly before they returned to Enterprise.
They had had a very warm welcome by Trip's parents when they returned to Earth: they hadn't stopped declaring the beauty of the baby for a minute and continued to call friends, relatives and acquaintances to talk about her. Trip had expected that, but he didn't imagine the change in T'Pol's mother.
«Can I go to help Malcolm, today?»
«No.» replied Trip.
«C'mon, daddy... only five minutes.»
«No.» he replied. «You broke a phaser gun that could have shot you. So the answer is no.»
«I promise not to break anything,» she said.
«Yes, you have already promised. But your mother put you on punishment for ten days and I agree with her. You know that weapons are dangerous.» he kissed her forehead. «Come on, my Lizzy Vices. It's time to get up.»
«Okay, daddy!» The girl jumped up and ran to the bathroom.
Trip sighed. He was very sorry to continue the punishment, but this time he had to admit T'Pol was right. He didn't entirely understand T'Mir's obsession with helping Malcolm all the time, but he would investigate further.
§26ter
Trip handed his daughter a blue bag with an incomprehensible – at least to him – yellow label.
«Will you translate this writing for me?» he asked. T'Mir wasn't a language genius, she had more inclination towards the sciences. Nevertheless, Hoshi's skills had allowed her to learn even the Xindi reptilian dialect, which nobody else on Enterprise had learned so far. Trip had the distinct feeling that they used it as a personal code.
«Bazaar... Triax, the... mmhm... best silk of the Galaxy.»
«You're really good.» He said. He helped to put on her clothes. «And you're beautiful in that dress.»
«Do you think Malcolm will like it too?»
Trip looked up to heaven. «Do know you how much older Malcolm is than you?» He took her in his arms and slowly combed her hair, then pulled it back slightly from her forehead stopping it with small silver springs decorated with daisies.
«About thirty, there is more difference between you and m'aih.»
Tucker laughed. T'Mir had her mother's mathematical mind. Definitely. He kissed her forehead. «You're beautiful. I'm sure he'll like it. But now will you come to engineering with me?»
They worked together for a few minutes at the engines, until there came a call from Archer: «Trip, are we ready?»
«I would say so.» He said. He picked up his daughter. «Come on, do it yourself.»
«Me? But daddy, I just learned how to crimp...»
«Come on, push these levers up slowly, and keep your eyes on the flow monitor here.»
T'Mir put her hands on the levers, as she had seen her father do thousands of times. «Like this?»
«Yes, you're doing great.» Trip knew it: T'Mir would become an engineer, not a scientist. She lived among the engines, not the data. «Ok, keep it up.»
They perceived a slight acceleration and then a separate cheer from all hands.
«Ladies and gentlemen, warp six.» said Trip.
Archer's voice came over the intercom: «Congratulations Trip, we are at warp 6!»
«Don't congratulate me, it was T'Mir who took us to warp 6!»
(To be continued...)
Thanks to Zero Credibility who's betareading this story in English, and to Seti and Franz who had betaread it in Italian.
All my stories are published in Italian on my blog.