Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.

Chapter 35

"Mr. Chekov, over here!"

"Mr. Chekov, a word!"

"Can we have a picture with the kids?"

"Mr. Chekov, could—"

Keeping his hat low over his face, Pavel marched towards the Enterprise. His twins copied him with their shoulders back and hats down. Being on the Enterprise would make dealing with paparazzi a thing of the past. Oh, what a relief that would be.

Spock walked in front of them, eyes sharp and ready to intervene if the need arose. One could never tell how zealous a reporter would get when they smelled a story. Thankfully this was a smart group and they kept their distance.

As he entered the shadow of the Enterprise, Pavel felt a familiar thrill run down his spine. The best ship Starfleet had to offer was before him, though he couldn't see the pretty lady with his hat in the way. She was his first ship and soon he would join her in space once again. This time he would be busier than ever. While he would only work part time on the bridge doing what he had been trained to do, he was still responsible for the twins. The young parent had set things up with Leonard so that Lyusya and Vitaliy would stay in medbay while he worked. At least in medbay they would be safe from other crew members.

Finally, after a ceremony and a small press conference about how things would go on the missions they went on, Pavel was back on board the Enterprise. He took a deep breath of the air that smelt of adventure and excitement. He couldn't wait for the first mission; for the first time he sat behind his station again.

Spock placed a hand on his shoulder, leading him to the bridge with the rest of the command crew. The Vulcan had been actively interacting with his children, getting to know them and understanding them. He knew that the young man that had birthed them wanted them to be free to express themselves as they wanted and Spock respected that. It was still a little irritating that Lyusya tended to take after Spock and not let her emotions show. There was some solace in the fact that Vitaliy was every bit a momma's boy. Throughout his stay with the young man, as he refused to leave the apartment without them, Spock had tried to be friendlier towards Pavel. It had worked, to a point. The blonde still flinched away from any type of physical contact from the older man and seemed to analyze everything the Vulcan said. Nothing seemed to deter Spock though as he continued to speak reassurances that he would not hurt the twins or Pavel again and seemed to take every chance he got to physically touch the small blonde.

"Should I not be settling into my room?" Pavel asked as they boarded the turbolift with Jim, Uhura, and Hikaru.

"I thought it'd be nice for you and the kids to watch the take off," Jim smiled at him, gently tapping each child on the nose once. Spock had become better at letting others touch his mate and children, but only marginally so.

Uhura seemed to seethe at the news, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the lift doors. Hikaru smiled and wiggled his fingers at Lyusya who was staring at him inquisitively. Spock's hand moved to rest between his shoulders and rubbed in small circles in a comforting manner. Despite himself, Pavel relaxed just the smallest bit as the tension he hadn't known he was feeling eased. Well, eased only to be replaced with a different kind of tension that Pavel he had come to associate with the black haired man.

The doors opened and Pavel was guided to stand next to the Captain's chair. Jim smiled at him as he took his place, Spock quickly preparing his spot before returning to his mate's side. Lyusya and Vitaliy wiggled and squirmed in their mother's arms trying to see as much as they could, wishing desperately to toddle about and investigate their surroundings. The blonde parent decided to ignore Uhura's disgusted sounding scoff as she sat at her station. The naive part of him wanted to just say she was having a bad day, but he knew better. She didn't like him because of how close he was with Spock. They weren't really that close, but he had heard from Jim that she and Spock had broken up. She probably blamed him.

"Is there a problem, Uhura?" Jim asked in a stern voice.

"No, Captain," she replied tersely.

Ah, that was so very convincing.

The turbolift opened again letting Leonard join the bridge. He smiled and waved before standing on Jim's left as he always did.

"All set in the medbay," he reported.

"Sweet." He pressed the com button on the air of his chair, "How're we looking, Scotty?"

"Oh, the lass is ready to go, Captain," came the Scottish accent over the line.

"Well then, let's take off, Sulu," he ordered with a grin.

Pavel stood firm as the Enterprise took off on her next adventure. He couldn't wait to see where they went first.

He took back his earlier statement at take off.

Pavel wanted nothing more than for all of this to end. Better yet, to turn around and stay on Earth.

What could possibly make him wish for the exact opposite of his current situation?

Well, that had to deal with the fact that he was getting harassed by some engineers. Of course, they had waited until he had dropped the twins off for a nap in medbay where they could be cooed over by the medical staff. All he wanted was to get some food from the cafeteria. They cornered him on his way back, laughing as they asked if he was free for the night. They claimed to be able to show him a good time.

Of course he had told them off, he was a parent for crying out loud. Well they took exception to that. Just as one of them was pulling their fist back to punch him, Spock appeared out of nowhere. He took hold of the drawn back arm and squeezed.

"It would be wise to leave Mr. Chekov and the children alone if you wish to stay on the Enterprise," he stated in a flat voice. However, from spending so much time together, Pavel knew the Vulcan was extremely close to snapping their necks.

Pavel sighed when the group left. He had honestly thought that people would have forgotten or at least were at least smart enough not to mess with him seeing as he had kids onboard.

"Zank you," the younger of the two murmured. At least the food didn't spill.

"They should not have targeted you. They will be punished accordingly." Yep, Spock was beyond angry.

Just as he was about to continue on to medbay, the blonde felt a large hand rest between his shoulders again. Flinching, he tried to move away, but the hand followed. Why did Vulcans have to be so damn stubborn? Together they picked up the twins, who had gotten ahold of a laser that wasn't a harmless pointer, and retired to their rooms. Much to Pavel's dismay his room was linked to Spock's by the bathroom. He had been hoping for his old quarters, but he should have expected Starfleet to do this to appease Spock's protective streak.

"I will see you tomorrow. Good night, Pavel, Lyusya, Vitaliy."

With that the tallest of the group left and entered his room through the bathroom. Sighing, the younger man set the twins down with the food.

Maybe going to space again wasn't such a good idea.