All Good Things
Chapter Thirty-seven - More Music
On Board the Enterprise
June 2276
Spock
Once again it was time for the annual Music Festival. He arranged several practice sessions for what had become known as the Vulcan Orchestra. This year he allowed Grayson to bring his ka'athyra and join in, to his son's great delight. The only two members of the orchestra that he wondered whether would actually be at the performance were Fallon and T'Vela, as their child could be born any time now.
The evening before the festival, everyone brought their instruments to the selected room and set them up, and they had a last practice together, checking the acoustics of the room and the tuning of the instruments carefully. Everyone was pleased with the result, and left the room in a good frame of mind, locking the door carefully behind them.
On the morning of the festival, after breakfast, he dressed in his formal robes, and Grayson in his as well, that his grandfather had sent from New Vulcan just for this occasion. Amanda and Nyota were dressed in bright fabrics from Africa, and the twins were going to day care, and so wore their normal crawlers. He balanced Semik on his left lip, and picked up his ka'athyra case. Nyota had Sobek, and was holding Amanda's hand. Grayson had his own ka'athyra case. They headed for the the day care center and left the twins, and then separated. Nyota and Amanda had an early slot in the African tradition room, and then would come and listen to the Vulcan music for a while, before going to wander around and listen to the other offerings. After lunch, they would repeat this pattern. And then they would pick up the twins and head for the mess hall, where the evening meal would include dishes from all the cultures represented at the festival. That had started last year, and had been tremendously successful.
Wurok
This year he would not let Daniela help him push the kep down the corridors, even though she protested. The new life growing in her belly was far too important to risk in unnecessary labor. She did follow along, and settle down in one of the chairs to listen to the rehearsal, however. And afterwards, the women all came to her and sat with her and talked, and shyly asked if they could listen to her child's thoughts. She sat and glowed, and their bond blazed with silver light while he watched her, content.
Brack
He was much gratified when Leah attended all the rehearsals with him, listening carefully to the music. She even asked very good questions about some of the pieces afterwards, as they walked back to her quarters. She was learning to understand Vulcan music very well and this pleased him. He was not sure that he understood all forms of Human music as well as she understood Vulcan music, but he was trying at least to appreciate those forms that she seemed to like the most.
Karck
This was the first public event that they had attended since Alis had become his ko-kulgasu and he found himself somewhat defensive. He wanted to ward off every other male who came close to her. But she paid no attention to anyone but him, sitting quietly in the audience next to Leah and Daniela and comporting herself extremely properly. He was much pleased.
Stuln
They arrived later than most of the others, but there was still room near the other women who belonged to members of the orchestra, and Momoko found a chair and settled down, folding her hands in her lap properly, and sitting quietly to listen. He could not remember seeing her in the audience last year, so perhaps this would be the first time she had ever heard so much Vulcan music. He did hope that she enjoyed it.
Grayson
He was so excited over being allowed to participate in the whole day that he was having difficulty in settling down. Baba sat on one side of him, and Brack was on the other, with his smaller stringed instrument. Grayson knew it was called a ply'muth. T'Bel was on the other side of Brack. On the floor in front of them Tanik and Karck sat with their vlulns. When they began to play, the rhythm they produced was amplified by the floor of the room and vibrated through his feet, helping him to maintain the proper pace of playing for the songs. He found this fascinating. It was much better than the metronome that Mama had.
Falon
He had been undecided about participating this year, but T'Vela had insisted. And so he had loaded her kusek onto the base of the stand for his bling and pushed both down the corridors, making her wait in their quarters until he returned for her. He did not want her walking down the corridors without his help, for her advanced pregnancy had made it very difficult for her to walk. When they reached the room where the orchestra was playing, he carefully settled her down on the floor beside Tanik, who had promised to watch her for him, and signal him immediately if she showed any distress at all. He set her kusek up in front of her, and moved around to the back of the room, to where his bling was waiting, taking his place as the last one ready. Now the music could begin.
He paid almost as much attention to T'Vela as he did to the music, but as the day progressed, and she seemed to be doing fine, he began to relax. So it came as a total shock to him when Tanik suddenly motioned to him, and he saw T'Vela drop the small mallet that she used to tap the bells and wrapp her arms around her bulging belly. Quickly he pushed his way between the seated players and knelt by her side. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "I believe our child will be born this day."
He wasted no time whatsoever in lifting her up in his arms and carrying her out of the room. He had not gotten very far down the corridor at all when he saw a medical team coming at a run with a gurney on wheels. He laid her down, and they fastened a large webbing carefully over her, and then set off back in the direction they had come from, with him following along behind them.
In sick bay, one of the nurses took him aside and showed him how to scrub himself, and draped him in a sterile gown and took him back to the room where she was, now in a biobed, the back propped up to support her in a sitting position, leaning back against several pillows, wedged in around her to offer support to her back and head. He was given a cup of ice pieces, and told to feed them to her slowly, to keep her from becoming dehydrated. He took this task very seriously, and timed the interval between chips carefully. He also timed the contractions that she was having, both the duration and the interval, and widened the link between them so that he could draw the pain away from her. He could feel her excitement, and anticipation very plainly. From time to time, he laid his hand low upon her belly, and checked on their son, who was slightly disturbed by what was happening to him. But he was in no real distress, and the medical team was monitoring him closely, with some special equipment attached to T'Vela's belly.
Eventually, things became to happen more quickly. T'Vela began to experience stronger and longer contractions, and began to pant heavily and clasped his hands tightly, as she took deep breaths and pushed hard with each contraction. He spent more of his attention soothing her, and drawing the pain away so that she could concentrate. He was very glad that he had spoken to the other Vulcan males whose bondmates had already borne children, and asked them what he should do when her time came to deliver. This was not the traditional role of a Vulcan male at this time, but here there were no Vulcan healers to assist her, and he was needed.
It was not much longer then, and Dr Harris was lifting their son up, and laying him on T'Vela's belly, streaked with green blood, and other secretions, still he looked wonderful. He screamed his outrage at what he had been subjected to, and waved his arms and legs about with great force, causing T'Vela to reach out and hold onto him with one hand to keep him from rolling about. He reached out gently, and touched his son's face, offering soothing, and the small bright eyes turned in his direction, trying to focus. "Welcome, Marik." His voice was soft and low, and full of emotion.
When their son had been bathed, and wrapped in a soft blanket, and T'Vela had delivered the afterbirth and been cleaned up and covered with a warm blanket as well, he was brought back to them, to hold and watch, and he sat there, overcome with feeling, until both his bondmate and his new son began to yawn. And then he stroked them both with his fingers, and told T'Vela that she must sleep and rest, and handed Marik to the nurse who tucked him into the small bed on T'Vela's other side.
Back in their quarters, he went to the comlink, and sent the prepared announcement out to their friends, telling them that mother and child were both healthy and strong, and that they had named their son Marik. And then he folded himself down before his firepot and meditated on the great feelings of love and joy that he felt.
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Kep = Vulcan instrument like a gong
Vluhn = small Vulcan drum, played sitting flat on the floor
Ply'muth = Vulcan stringed instrument, smaller than a ka'athyra
Kusek = Vulcan instrument which is a set of small bells in a framework, played by striking them gently
Bling = Vulcan instrument similar to a set of cymbals
Ka'athyra = Vulcan stringed instrument, similar to a lyre