Trigger warnings: several mentions of past non-con, funeral and talks of death and suicide. Racism, slight mysogyny and mentions of stalking. And a tad of violence, jealous exes and conspiracy theorists, heavily implied smut and mentions of sex in general
A part of her almost couldn't believe it when she stepped out of the shuttle in San Francisco only half a week later. She was really back on earth. Only for a week but still, it felt quite unreal. She happily showed Erik everything she could see and found herself mentioning that this was her home quite often. While he listened merrily during the time they were in San Francisco, he didn't seem too happy about the shuttle to Denver or the train ride that took them to Wray and they got a few dirty glances by other travelers because the baby was crying. One even dared to snap at her husband and tell him to 'vulcanize' their son and make sure he shut up. For a moment Carissa considered to change their seat but then found it was only the other people's problem. Erik was a baby and it was not their fault that he was upset and they couldn't calm him right now. Nevertheless, a part of her felt bad but mostly because Erik was upset for some reason. But finally they arrived and after a short while of searching, she spotted her father. Without thinking, she placed Erik in her husband's arms and ran towards her father, falling round his neck with a shriek
"I can't believe you're here" she shouted.
"I should be the one saying this, little one. Did you have a good trip? Is that even a good term? You must have been at the other end of the galaxy"
"No, not really, we still were at the edge of Federation space"
"You need to tell me everything about your adventures"
"Dad, I already told you most things"
"But not in person" she rolled her eyes. By now also Spock and her son had reached them and Carissa almost tore Erik from his arms "Dad that's Erik, our son" Henry smiled and he waved at the baby
"Hello, little man"
"Erik look, this is your granddaddy" she squealed and Erik only looked at her before starting to chew on his forefinger "You've seen him only on Mommy's PADD before, when I talked to him" her father nodded and tickled Erik's face while cooing nonsense at him "Dad no, please don't do that. Spock and I agreed not to do that because it well… he's actually able to learn more if you talk to him like you talk to a normal person. At least what concerns the words, sometimes I can't help the tone of my voice either. Isn't that right, sweetheart?" she asked, nuzzling the top of his head.
"Oh alright" Henry removed his hand and looked at Spock "It's good to see you too" he patted his shoulder "And officially welcome to the family" on their ride to her hometown, Henry explained how his wife was doing and to Carissa's surprise she had mostly calmed down after they had found her sister and ensured she was okay so far. Needless to say that it was a relief for Carissa because she wouldn't know what to do if her mother was still so on edge like she had been during their last call. As a matter of fact, she had not spoken to her since that day and only told her father that she'd be coming to the funeral with Erik and Spock. A part of her was very nervous to see her mother. Because although her father had assured her that her Mum wasn't angry at her anymore, she wasn't so sure. On the other hand, she had Erik and with a bit of luck she'd be too enthralled with him to actually be mad at her. But as soon as she saw her mother outside their house, with a happy look on her face, also Carissa couldn't help but forget about her anger she harbored towards her mother for what she said to her and ran towards her, wrapping her arms around her.
"My little girl is back from outer space"
"It's just a holiday" Carissa muttered. Rachel pushed her away a little to look at her "I still look the same, yeah" she said with a chuckle
"Where's my little grandson?"
"Spock has him" she said as she turned around to see the two men obviously discussing the car
"Ah a good thing you brought your husband. Your father has been complaining the car makes some weird noises when you start it. He can have a look"
"Mum, we didn't come that Spock can repair our car! Take it to a specialist if it doesn't work" but she probably should have rather told her father because he was already opening the engine cover. Rolling her eyes, Carissa went over to them and placed a hand on Spock's arm "You don't need to do anything about it, okay?"
"Hey, maybe he can build in some starship parts and make it fly"
"That's not how it works. Starfleet uses Federation standards for their components while here not even two garages can agree on the same spare parts. Besides, you can't just make a car fly by adding parts from a starship. Even if you could, where the heck would we be supposed to get some Starfleet issue parts?"
"Your daughter is correct" Spock said and shifted his hold on Erik so that he could have a better look at the engine parts
"Give him to me" Carissa said, trying to get Erik into her own arms. By now, her mother was already coming them and her face lit up when she saw Erik.
"What a cute little baby you are. Did you see his ears, Carissa?"
"He's my son, Mum, of course I've seen them"
"Ah yes, what a dumb question. Hello, there" she said and nudged the little kid's nose "It's so nice to finally see you. You're so much cuter than on all the pictures and during face call. Can I hold him?"
"If he wants to. He's starting to get picky about strangers"
"But I'm not a stranger! I'm his grandmother"
"He doesn't know that. He only knows your voice and I don't know how good he knows your face"
"Well, I bet you're gonna love me, isn't that right, my sweet, little baby-boy?" Erik let out a choking sound "Oh are you hungry? I bet I've got something nice for you in the kitchen. Grandmummy will get you something to eat. Would you like some pudding?"
"Mum! He's a baby! Don't feed him stuff like that! That was like literally on the top of your list 'Even if he doesn't have teeth, don't feed him sweet stuff! It could ruin his milk and real teeth"
"Ah come on, it's not that bad if you brush his teeth afterwards" she insisted and tried to get Erik from her arms making him cry in the process
"Oh Mum please leave him alone right now. He's been through a lot in the past 36ish hours. Maybe he'll feel better when he's gotten used to the place a little"
"Oh okay" her mother let go of him and turned to Spock instead "It's so nice to see you. I'm happy you could make it!" before he could reply, she hugged him, much to his dismay "How was your journey? Are you hungry?"
"Thank you for the offer, Mrs Wiley but I am fully sated"
"Oh come on, you're my son-in-law. Call me Rachel or Mum, or whatever you want! But are you sure you don't want to eat something? I really made sure that Henry cooked something vegetarian for you"
"Mum, he said he isn't hungry. We can eat something later" she gently tugged on Spock's arm, wanting him to follow her inside before it got more awkward but of course her mother managed that anyway
"Okay. But I'm so happy to have both of you home. Although this isn't really your home, Spock. But you can consider it your new home, since your planet is gone"
"Mum!" Carissa whined wanting to cover her eyes and a part of her wished she had not come here. Or at least without Spock. "Don't be mean!"
"I wasn't mean! I just told him this can be his new home because he lost his planet" she pinched the bridge of her nose
"Mum, I doubt this could ever replace a planet. But I'm sure he appreciates it. Come on, Spock, let's go inside"
"Oh Carissa?"
"Yes?"
"I've got a little surprise for you"
"Really? What is it?"
"Come and see" she sighed as she saw her mother's huge smile and decided to follow her inside their house. She looked around the rooms with a big smile before she had to go upstairs to see her room. When she was there, her breath hitched
"Wow. Feels unreal to be here" she muttered and nuzzled Erik's neck "look, this is where Mommy grew up. This was my room. And we'll be staying here for some days. I bet you'll love the place" she felt something against her legs and looked down "Blacky!" she exclaimed, bending down to pet her tomcat "Oh my God, you have no idea how much I missed you! Did you get fat?! What did they do to you?" the cat let out a mew and hushed into the room, curling up on her bed. She smiled but then saw the mattress on the floor "What's this for?" she asked pointing at it when her mother came upstairs
"Oh I thought your aunt could sleet in here with you? She's staying here for some weeks" she glanced at her mother and Spock
"No offence but I don't think she or Spock will like to sleep in the same room"
"Oh but he can have the pull-out couch in the living room, dear"
"Mum" she shook her head "Spock and I married. We've always shared a bed since then. So he'll sleep here with me. Unless he doesn't want to. Besides, what about the guestroom? Why don't you put Aunt Julie there?"
"Oh you haven't met him yet?"
"Met who?" her mother only grinned and walked to the next door to knock at it "Are you in there? Carissa's here"
"Oh already?" she heard a voice and shortly after the door opened. Her heart skipped a beat when she recognized the man in front of her.
"Finn" she croaked, instinctively moving away from her ex-boyfriend, closer to Spock "What are you doing here?"
"His parents kicked him out after he lost his job and had a problem with the police so we let him live here and he works in Dad's restaurant. Isn't that nice?"
"No. No that's not nice! He's my ex-boyfriend. Do you know how weird that is that he's living literally next door to me and my husband and son? I-I don't want him here! You can't do that! There's a reason I broke up with him."
"Oh don't be like that honey, it's been five years since you've last seen him. And even longer since you have been with him. He really is a sweetheart."
"Yes and before I've seen him then also five years passed and he still didn't get any better. And the sweetheart is only played. He's an asshole"
"Carissa, I'm sorry how your last encounter went" she rolled her eyes
"Just do me a favor and stay out of my way as long as I'm here. Can you do that?"
"But Carissa! He'll eat with us"
"Fine. Then don't talk to me, my husband or my son"
"Stop being impossible, Carissa"
"Don't be impossible? How am I supposed to stay calm when you invite my ex here? No in fact he lives here! That's so weird. You have absolutely no idea! Can't he stay in a hotel for at least some days?"
"It only are a few days, Carissa" her mother ruffled her hair
"A few days I wanted to spend with my family, not my goddam ex who never gets anything right! Although there is one good thing you've done… if you hadn't insisted I take the 'only-human' anti-reception shot I'd have never gotten Erik"
"See, I didn't do everything wrong"
"Yeah because your birthday present turned out to be perfect" she felt tears in her eyes.
"Look, I already said I was sorry about that" she shook her head
"I don't want to hear it. Just stay away from me"
-oO0Oo-
As she had imagined the dinner was quite bad because just like her mother, her aunt wasn't familiar with any non-human species and asked Spock a huge deal of embarrassing questions, some of which also concerned their son. Meanwhile, Finn seemed to try and kiss her parents' asses by pretending to be helpful and supporting of anything they scolded Carissa for. As if that wasn't enough, her mother always assured him what a gentleman he was. The only thing that comforted her was that he at least didn't talk to her or Spock directly. That, however, changed when Henry asked Spock if he thought the problem with the car should be looked at in a garage. Her husband replied that he could at least determine the damage and try to repair it
"Ah but you don't have to" Finn said "You're here on vacation. I can repair the car, Henry. You know, as a thank-you that you let me stay and work here"
"Oh you don't have to do that. We appreciate the help in the household" Spock added that he believed he had more know-how to repair the car, making Carissa grin. "Same goes for you, Spock, you don't need to repair the car if you don't want to"
"I suggest it would be an appropriate service in return for allowing me to stay here"
"But you're only staying for a few days and I've been here for five months already and I might be staying for a little longer"
"That's alright. Both of you are welcome here at any time. But what about you both repair the car? That would be lovely" Rachel placed a hand on each of the men's hand "You two could spend some time together and get along. It surely would mean a lot to Carissa id you did"
"No!" Carissa shouted "That's weird and will end in a bloodbath" though she wasn't too sure whose blood it would be. It was more likely that Finn started something but she doubted he'd be the one to get hurt if there was actually a fight.
"Does she always speak for you?" Finn asked her husband "Or are you not even allowed to answer that question?"
"I assure you that my wife does not restrict my freedom in any way. Neither do I restrict hers. We merely happen to agree on most of our decisions or attempt to find the optimal compromise"
"So is repairing the car with me one of the occasions you disagree with her?"
"No, it is not"
"Perfect, we can have a first look at it tomorrow morning"
"He said no it was not an instance we disagree. Meaning he agrees it would be weird to work with you"
"Oh fine, okay. Then I'll do it alone"
"You misunderstand" Spock explained that he would be the one to repair the vehicle. Carissa didn't know if he insisted because he didn't trust Finn, wanted to impress her parents too, just wanted to have something to do or simply enjoyed the task. When the meal was over, Carissa got up to do the dishes, as always when she was home but Finn jumped up as well.
"No, I'll do it" he placed his hand on her shoulders and gently massaged them "Just stay seated and spend time with your parents"
"Take your paws off me, my husband is right there, you fucking pervert!" she hissed
"Carissa, don't be mean!"
"Really, I didn't mean anything by it. Unless it bothers you?" he turned to Spock
"I suppose my wife has made her request that you let go of her quite clear"
"Okay. I just don't want to upset anyone" he removed his hands, raising them in innocence and took her plate and glass instead before making a round and taking everyone's stuff to the kitchen.
"Oh that's very nice of you, Finn" her mother said with a fond glance at her ex.
"No reason to thank me. I like helping where I can. It would be a shame if Carissa had to do it. I bet she has a lot to do at home with the baby and all. And now she's with you and she surely wants to spend some time with you"
"Well actually I get a lot of help in the household from my husband" Carissa jibed. Finn chuckled and disappeared in the kitchen "Finally" she muttered to herself
-oO0Oo-
She was quite glad when she could go to bed that evening and was even gladder that Finn was still downstairs, probably trying to impress her parents even more. With a sigh she flopped down on her bed.
"What a day" she sighed "I can't believe they let him live here! That's so wrong"
"While I can understand that you do not find your former boyfriend's stay here agreeable, I am able to understand why your parents did allow him to do so"
"I kinda find it okay too… but I do wonder what that issue with the police was. Besides, why does he have to be here while I'm here?" she sighed "You know, humans kind of have a rule that says an ex is taboo for anyone close to you. Like your friends shouldn't befriend them or even date them unless you're on good terms with your ex yourself. It's probably illogical but whatever. I bet you too wouldn't like the fact if you father would let that woman you were bonded to stay at your place either if we were on New Vulcan. Though, she's probably long over you and married to someone else. But I do believe Finn still wants me back. That's why he's kissing my parents' asses like he's hoping to make them convince me again to take him back! Just a question; do you think his behavior is odd?"
"I am not an expert what concerns human behavior but I am certain that his excessive helpfulness suggests that he attempts to impress someone"
"Yeah most likely my parents or me. Like 'look here, what a nice man I've become! Wouldn't you want to be with someone like me?' Just like in animal world where males have a real go at each other to impress the ladies and show them who's the strongest. And maybe also my parents. To make them talk to me as in 'he's such a nice guy, don't you want to spend time with him?' Just like after I finally broke up with him" she grunted "But don't worry if he's trying to set up a competition against you I can assure you that he has not even the slightest chance. All he achieve is that he will annoy me" she got up to kiss him. From downstairs she heard Finn call if they came down to have a drink (one he had made himself as he proudly announced) with them "I swear he's doing that on purpose!"
"What are you referring to?"
"That he knows exactly you don't drink because you refused to have a beer with Dad before dinner" she sighed "No Finn" she shouted "It's been a long day for us. I think we'll just go to bed"
"Carissa, you may go and spend time with your family if you wish" she shook her head
"That's what Finn wants. That you're the one who isn't with us and then he can be like 'what kind of horrible son-in-law is that who doesn't even join us for a drink in the evening?' Besides… you and Erik are my family too" Spock was silent and then cocked up an eyebrow
"You are correct about Finn's intention"
"What do you mean?"
"He has just mentioned the fact that he believes I am asocial for not joining them"
"See? I can't believe my parents don't see through him! But he's always tried to be all nice in front of my parents. Even after… our failed first time he brought my Mum and me flowers and apologized, saying he had not realized he had hurt me. But I'm asking you what part of 'No Finn please stop, you're hurting me! Stop!' does he not get?" she buried her face in her pillow but shot up when she noticed a weird smell to it. She stared at it before picking it up and sniffing it "Something's wrong. It smells too masculine" she gasped when she had very good idea why it probably smelled of a male "Blech! I have to change the sheets God only knows what he did with his thing in my bed"
"What 'thing' are you referring to?" she looked him dead in the eye
"His best little friend"
"Why should he bring a friend to your bed?"
"Not such a friend. His… penis" she ripped the sheets off her bed and tossed them into the clothes basket before retrieving her purple duvet cover out of the store room "Goodbye flowers hello purple" she muttered
"Has your mother not told you that she has changed your bedding solely four days ago?"
"Yes but as I said, my bed smells like Finn and I don't want to know what he did in here, concerning his stupid little dick"
"Carissa, I am certain that he will not have mistaken your bed for a urinary"
"Not that kind of use of his dick. I'm talking about masturbation. God that I even discuss this with you"
"Why would he feel the need to do such a thing?"
"Because humans don't undergo Pon Farr or so and need to postpone their deaths. Imagine, they do this for fun. Because they can't find someone to 'mate' with"
"Carissa, I apologize if I have angered you in any way"
"No, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Finn" she sighed.
"I understand" suddenly a thought crossed her mind
"Wait a moment, I think I know something" she said and went to her wardrobe to pull out her box with underwear because she wanted to show him the lingerie she had bought oh-so long ago.
"Why are you trying to find?"
"Remember our conversation concerning nice and sexy underwear a couple of days ago, when I said I had left something at home? Well, I might think it could be time to put it on again"
"Carissa, as I have told you before, I find such clothing unnecessary"
"It is unnecessary but I'm gonna have you admit that it's still nice" she muttered to herself "But where…" she started taking out her underwear to see more but the lingerie she had bought with Nicole, even the one she had bought for her first time with Finn, were gone "Oh no…he hasn't…" she let out a growl and marched to the guest room
"What are you doing? I do not believe your intention is proper"
"Spock, just… keep watch and warn me if someone's coming" she opened the bottom drawer of the cupboard where they stored a lot of games in order to pretend she had wanted to take one of those in case someone entered.
"Carissa" was there desperation in his voice? Still she ignored him
"Just a second" she went to the bed and checked under the pillow, then under the sheets
"It is not appropriate to examine his belongings without his consent or knowledge" but Carissa had already found what she was looking for and pulled out her dark purple lace panty
"Does that actually look like something that belongs to him? Can you imagine him wearing such a thing?"
"No, I do not think it is something he intended to wear. Yet you cannot know if it is your clothing item either"
"Well, by chance I happen to recognize it as the piece he ripped off my body only moments before he found he could do whatever he wanted because it's his birthday and I had agreed to it beforehand and shouldn't behave like this because the pain would fade" she felt tears in her eyes "I should kill him for this"
"Why would you end his life for taking your clothes? I recall you too have chosen to wear my clothing without asking for permission first"
"That's something different. I only took those things during my pregnancy because I found yours to be more comfortable. Besides, I recall that one evening I've asked you if it bothers you and you said no, as long as you still had clothes to wear and I returned them you didn't mind" she walked past him and slammed the panty against his chest, wanting him to take it, which he did reluctantly.
"Carissa, I can understand that his actions upset you but I doubt that violence is a logical solution. I suggest you talk to him"
"I don't believe it! You don't get it, do you? You have literally no idea!"
"I understand that you feel upset because he has taken your clothing without your consent"
"It's not the only thing that he's taken of me without consent" she muttered "I mean I wouldn't be that mad if it was just a shirt… but a panty. That is so sick. You just don't do this. I don't think Vulcans would like it if someone took their underwear even with asking"
"I see"
"You see?" she shouted
"Carissa, I urge you to remain calm"
"Calm? You're telling me to remain calm? You are a complete ass, you know that?! I hate you!" she shouted before marching to the bathroom and slamming the door into his face happy it actually was a door she could slam and not just let it slide close.
"I fail to understand when your anger towards Finn has become directed at me"
"You fail to understand… well let me explain it. Usually, when a girl tells her current partner something like this, the male can get possessive or at least angry at the other one. You want to know what you did to upset me? It sounds like you don't even support me or understand my anger. You only tell me to remain calm and you even seem to defend Finn!" she got even angrier when she felt tears rolling down her cheeks.
"If you wish, I can discuss the issue with him and try to resolve it. Would him returning your underwear appease you?"
"It's not about the underwear anymore! What I need is to turn back time and stop him on his birthday! He doesn't deserve a well meant talk! He should receive a lesson. Like last time you could beat those guys at the restaurant too"
"I doubt that violence is the correct solution"
"What's going on here?" she heard Finn's voice as he walked up the stairs. Just great. Everything she needed. "What did you do?" she heard a knock against the bathroom door "Carissa? Are you alright? Did he hurt you or something?"
"Piss off!" she shrieked
"How'd you do that?" she knew he had turned back to her husband
"Her current state has little to do with my own actions"
"What's that supposed to mean?" oh no. She prayed he wouldn't mention it but of course Spock then must have showed him her panty and said accused him of having stolen it "No, you misunderstand. It is mine. I mean… not mine to wear but uh… it's not hers. Someone gave it to me"
"Then why has my wife recognized it as her own after she could not find it in her room where she had placed it before?"
"What do I know? Besides, did she actually sneak through my stuff? Or did you? That's not better either!"
"We may discuss this as soon as the main issue is resolved"
"What do you want me to do?"
"I wish to hear the truth"
"Okay…. she bought them for me. For my birthday. But then she just broke up with me and took it with her"
"I doubt she has had the intention to let you keep them when she obtained them"
"But I chose them!" at that, Carissa was reminded of her much younger self, how she had blushed and done almost everything Finn had wanted after he had whispered in her ear how nice she would look in such underwear. Now she was disgusted by his behavior and even her own. She couldn't understand why she had even agreed to sleep with him afterwards. "Besides, what would you possibly know about any of this? You don't appreciate her or her body. I bet you haven't even touched her"
"We have a son!" Carissa shouted "Put two and two together"
"But Carissa, don't you see? That was his only intention. His race is dying out and he probably only wanted a child. Or he wanted it to bind you to him"
"Don't be ridiculous! It was an accident and we both were shocked at first. No it wasn't an accident, it wasn't planned. Erik is no accident"
"He still must have wanted a baby. Or otherwise he'd have on birth-control medic too. The doctors always say it's only 100% save if both partners took their respective part"
"Well bad for you that such shots kind of were made illegal for Vulcans" she shouted from the bathroom. A part of her wanted to just come outside and make sure her mother or father wouldn't come up as well because that would be beyond embarrassing. Finally, she made up her mind and opened the door, snatched her panty from Spock's hands and tossed it at Finn instead "You know what? Keep it, I don't care. It's all you'll ever get of me. I don't even want it anymore because it'll only remind me of you" she then pulled on Spock's sleeve, wanting to bring him to her own room. Erik was sitting his (respectively her own old) crib, his hands clutching the wooden bars of it and leaning his head against them as if he was in misery like in a prison. "Aww poor baby" she cooed as she went over to the crib to gently lie him down and tuck him up. But somehow he didn't seem to want to go to sleep since he always kicked the blanket away with a happy cooing sound. "Yeah suddenly you're all awake, huh? It's late, you should sleep" she then turned to Spock to ask him if he wanted to meditate so that she could give him some peace when he agreed, she got changed into her pajama and then went downstairs, joining her father who was sitting alone at the kitchen table, looking at something on his PADD because she wanted to talk to him about what he thought of the fact that Finn was here.
-oO0Oo-
Unfortunately, the next day wasn't much better. After all, it would be the day of the funeral service. Though it wasn't an actual funeral, they'd just go to church and then back to Carissa's place where her parents would prepare a little buffet for the guests. A part of Carissa felt bad and she assured Spock that he didn't need to come to church if he didn't want to. It surprised her that he agreed nonetheless and insisted it would be an interesting experience. So she didn't ask again but still found it cute when he seemed a bit confused about what to do at certain times. At the end, her aunt was staying at the front, next to the urn and everyone went there as well to hug her aunt and say some nice words. Carissa was nervous because she wanted to say something special, no one else had really said. But once she was at the front, all words left her and she just hugged her aunt tightly, not able to utter a word for a while.
"Remember when we were at the Wings over the Rockies Air and Space museum the summer before I went to Starfleet Academy?"
"Of course" she almost chuckled "You got sick in one of the simulations and he laughed at you for it that he stumbled over the threshold of the shuttle when we went outside"
"Exactly"
"Do you think he would have liked Starfleet?"
"I'm sure of it" she gave a nod and hugged Spock instead, much to his dismay. To his luck he was holding Erik, so that she couldn't truly hug him as she had hugged her niece.
"I just don't understand how he could die"
"A fall or jump from will crush the person's body or particular vital…" he stopped when Carissa rammed her elbow into his lower abdomen, probably right into his heart and glared at him
"How dare you?" she then heard Finn howl right beside them and had to bite back a groan. It was bad enough that he had been invited to come along… "I'm so sorry about him, he doesn't feel. He doesn't know what loss is" she was that close to snapping his neck and before she knew it, she placed a hand on her husband's lower arm "I am so, so, so terribly sorry about your son. He was such a good man"
"You didn't even know him" Carissa muttered to herself
"Oh, if only I had been able to eliminate all roads beneath bridges and make them to flower fields instead" he let out a sigh "Then no one would need to die"
"Okay you're just slightly exaggerating your thing a tiny bit" she muttered and was embarrassed for his behavior. "I can't believe I dated… that"
"But there were no flowers and the bridge was too short, as was his life. God can be a cruel man that he took him so early. He must have liked him or Jeremy would still be with us"
"Well his death might have actually been caused by the damage the impact did to his body. Spock is right about that" she had said it louder than she wanted, so she just pulled her husband away but shortly after walked into her mother who hugged her too and started crying. Carissa was clueless about what to do, so she said nothing, then asked what kind of food there would be at the buffet. And only seconds later, her mother was telling her about the foods and she found herself smiling. Just after the couple had left the church, a man approached them and shook her hand
"You've grown a lot since I last saw you" he said with a Slav accent she looked at him
"Sorry, I don't think I remember you?"
"Oh no worries. I'm Deniz, Jer's father"
"Oh hello" she smiled although she hadn't really heard nice stuff about him. To her dismay, he started talking to her, about how she had been in the past years before he turned to Spock and seemed shocked about the fact that he was non-human. Finally, her father arrived told her she had to come back to the restaurant with him because he wanted her help to prepare something and more or less led her away "But when I asked yesterday if I could help something you said no"
"I didn't come to get you because I need your help… that guy almost terrorized your mother and her sister after his divorce. He's threatened to abduct you if she didn't help him to get custody for Jeremy. He called at least twelve times a day and also in the night. I don't know how it would have ended if your mom's brother hadn't stepped in after two weeks"
"What? I had no idea it was that bad"
"I had to call the police one night because he was lurking around our property"
"Oh my God. And we're gonna allow that guy to come to our place?"
"He seems to have changed, for all I've seen but I don't know how much. It could be façade. But he's mostly alright as long as he's not drunk or so"
"Means no alcohol today?"
"No, we've seen to that"
"But what if he starts something?"
"I won't let him do that" her father promised
-oO0Oo-
Somehow Carissa didn't know how she had imagined the little feast afterward but in a way it was different from how she had imagined it. Or maybe it had just been alright until most of the guests left and only close family members were left. Better said only her family, Julie, her boyfriend, Finn and Deniz. Much to Carissa's surprise, Julie and her ex-husband seemed to get along quite well and had she not known better she would have believed they were friends. At least that was until he had placed a hand on her aunt's thigh after she cried, whereupon she pushed his hand away and leant to her new boyfriend instead. And then probably jealousy took hold of Deniz and he almost jumped up, calling her an ungrateful whore because apparently he found he had done so much for her and she thanked him by snatching another man. That seemed to be something that Julie's new boyfriend, Spencer, didn't like this and told Deniz to leave if it bothered him so much
"The only thing that bothers me is your ugly face. I think a broken nose would do you well!" Deniz roared and looked like he wanted to leap at the other male but Henry appeared beside them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, telling them to calm down "Let's settle this like real men. Outside" unfortunately, he had directed the words at her father but Henry didn't react.
"I don't want a fight on that day. Too much has happened" luckily, Spencer nodded and wrapped an arm around Carissa's aunt what seemed to give Deniz the rest and he tried to leap at the man, calling him a traitor, a rapist and worse. To her surprise, Finn intervened and almost tried to force himself between Deniz and Spencer and luckily Deniz let go of the latter.
"Why should I listen to you, you snip like you? You, you couldn't even hinder your own girl from running off with that plague"
"Stop it please" Julie more or less moaned burying her face in her hands "I've just lost my son"
"Your son?! He was our son. And if you had let me raise him he would still be alive. You suck at everything!" Julie howled up with a sob and Carissa wanted to do something but had no idea what and for once she hoped that Finn would do something. Maybe not really because she thought he could achieve something but because she found it wouldn't bother her too much if he was the one to get hit. But her worries increased when she heard Erik cry from his baby corner and rushed to get him. "Make it shut up or I'll throw that parasite against a wall"
"If you touch my son!" she hiss-shouted, pressing him against her chest.
"This thing doesn't belong here. And neither does he" although she didn't see what she did she could imagine he was pointing at her husband. "I swear if I had just taken action earlier and taken you with me when you were a little child none of this would have happened. You brought shame over the family!"
"What family? You're not part of it anymore" she found herself saying Deniz glared at her, then took a few steps into her direction. Henry tried to stop him but that only seemed to make him angrier
"What did you just say?"
"I uh…" she stammered and suddenly Finn was between her and the man
"Leave her alone"
"Or what?! You'd take a hit for a woman who betrayed you for a traitor?"
"Gentlemen!" Spencer insisted, coming closer "There's surely a way we can settle this without violence"
"Fine" Deniz leaned back "I'll calm down of you, that pointy ear and his bastard leave and never come back. I mean don't you ever dare to come close to anyone of this family again!" in order to not retort, Carissa bit her tongue and buried her nose in Erik's hair.
"If you have a problem with so many of us, you should be the one to leave" Finn said "because we others are able to get along!"
"Oh yeah? Don't tell me you like that Vulcan. He stole your girlfriend. He seduced her with his race's ability to influence minds. They are a plague. They plan to take over earth and enslave humans"
"They would have long done that" Spencer said "Besides, if someone planned to do this to our planet the rest of the Federation could help to protect us"
"No… no you don't get it. The Federation is our enemy too. They're trying to make us think we're save and then they'll attack with their forces"
"What force?"
"Starfleet" for some reason, Carissa snorted with laughter "What is so funny? Have you ever had to do with any of them? Do you have any idea how many vessels they have? What kind of advanced weapons? They could colonize a whole planet in a matter of minutes! Or destroy us"
"Of course that would be possible but that's not our purpose. Starfleet explores. The weapons are only for defense"
"How can you be so sure?" she glared at him
"You really don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Our daughter is in Starfleet. And Spock too" her father said proudly.
"So you have been the one who inspired my son to join them too? You're responsible for his death!"
"I haven't talked to him in years! And when we last talked he said Starfleet was nothing for him. Besides, were you not against Starfleet earlier?" Deniz glared at her and when he took another step towards her, Finn seemed to get too afraid and he quickly slipped away from between them.
"This is your fault!"
"Leave her alone" Finn shouted
"Or what? You're a coward"
"No, I'm not!"
"Prove it"
"Stop it at once. All of you" Henry insisted. Deniz' lips curled into a smile and he whipped around to punch her father in the face. Carissa's mother and her sister screamed. Also Carissa almost did it but when Erik started to cry harder she tried to soothe him.
"What did you do to him?" Finn protested and tried to lunge at Deniz. Carissa didn't know if he succeeded or not because when she took a step back to get out of their way, she slipped on Erik's baby blanket and found herself falling. In retrospective, she had no idea how she had managed to cradle Erik to her chest with one hand and use the other arm to absorb her fall in that quick time.
"Carissa!" her mother shrieked and hurried to her "Is the baby okay? Are you hurt?"
"Nice to know I'm not priority one anymore" she muttered as Rachel took her son from her arms, cooing at him to assure him it was over and that he was save now. "Unbelievable" Carissa muttered as she tried to get up and was grateful when she noticed that Spencer lend her a hand. "Thanks" she muttered, noticing that by now even Spock was with them, leaving only Julie by the couch. "I'm fine" she assured her husband before he could say a word "I didn't get hurt" to her surprise also Erik seemed rather content now and was giggling at Rachel's antics. "Sometimes I do envy him" she said with a sigh "All his problems can disappear within a minute and be so oblivious to the world around him"
-oO0Oo-
The rest of her stay with her parents had been quite okay. There was a lot going on, as always in their household. Like when she had walked in on a naked Finn who had walked from the guestroom to the bathroom without a towel. Or when her aunt was drinking Bourbon while trying to complain about her liver problems to Blacky. Or when her mother was trying to soothe a crying Erik by telling him emotions were illogical and told him to be happy seconds later. She smiled when she remembered Spock's expression after his father-in-law had showed him how to properly prepare a steak, obviously hoping he could convince him that meat was good. But almost nothing surpassed the time when Finn had finally tried to hit on her again by asking if she truly was sure that Spock was the right one for her and tried to tell her that Erik could be their own son. After that, she had been determined to show him exactly what Spock meant to her and had more or less dragged him to her bedroom and began undressing only seconds later after the door had been shut. When they finally landed in bed she didn't try to be quiet for once, wanting Finn to be able to hear her and was quite pleased when she heard that he ran down the stairs. What wasn't so pleasant was the fire alarm of the restaurant that told everyone to evacuate instantly. Much to her surprise Spock didn't seem to be bothered by it either and even before they could leave they had been informed it had indeed only been a false alarm. Later, Finn had tried to claim that it had been Erik who activated the alarm but luckily no one believed him. It even led him to being kicked out of the guestroom for the rest of her stay, much to her delight.
Before they returned to Yorktown, Carissa spent a day and half with her Lucie and Nicole in San Francisco and introduced them to Erik. And as she had imagined it was hard to leave earth when the week was over but what she told Erik surprised her even more
"Let's go home"