Title: Family Affairs
Authors: Sita/ T'eyla
Genre: Angst/Romance
Rating: PG (for language)
Summary: When Enterprise is in Earth's orbit for a few days of shore leave, Trip, T'Pol and their newborn son go to visit Trip's parents. While on Earth they have to face the hostility and prejudices still existent in the human society of the 22nd century.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Enterprise, we're not making any money from this.
Chapter 3: Mothers and Sons
Trip had never imagined it would be so exhausting. For him, at least. He had always thought the father's part was just to sit outside on a hospital bench chewing fingernails and maybe pace a little. When Dr Phlox had asked him if he wanted to be present at the birth, he had been surprised at first, but after a moment's thought he had agreed. Now that it was over he was glad he had done so, but during the five hours in sickbay he had once or twice caught himself wishing he were somewhere else.
But all in all he had been relieved. The last four weeks had stretched endlessly and both he and T'Pol had been tired of waiting, although she never would have admitted it. She had insisted on working her shifts, until two weeks ago Archer had put his foot down and had banished her from the bridge. But at that point she hadn't minded that much anymore staying in her quarters most of the time, since it had become quite a problem for her to wear the tight fitting Vulcan uniform. One evening Trip had entered their quarters to find her sitting at her desk wearing his favourite old shirt he kept for visits to the beach on shore leave. He had resisted the temptation to remind her of the occasion when she had quite bluntly voiced her doubts about his taste in decent clothing as he had come to the bridge wearing that very shirt.
"You look like my aunt Kate in her church dress," he had said instead and had been rewarded with one of her famous drop dead stares.
They had gone to bed early that evening .In the middle of the night Trip had suddenly woken up to find her gone. First he had assumed she had gone to the mess hall again for a midnight snack, but then Dr Phlox had called from sickbay and asked him in a slightly scolding tone of voice if he didn't want to keep his wife company while she was in labour. Not bothering to change from his pajamas he had run all the way to sickbay. Skidding to a halt next to her bio bed he had demanded to know why she hadn't woken him up, but she had only raised an eyebrow.
"There was no need. You seemed to be quite exhausted tonight, and, being human, you need enough sleep to function properly."
He had opened his mouth and closed it again, knowing it would be no use arguing, and had instead listened to Dr Phlox lecture T'Pol about how important it was for a human father to be allowed to support his wife during the birth.
And supported her he had. T'Pol being T'Pol had stayed calm and controlled all the time, but there had been moments when despite her composure she had given him the feeling that he was helping her, after all.
In the end, when Dr Phlox let him hold his son for the first time, he was overwhelmed. He had never thought he would be so tiny.
My son, he thought. I can't believe it. Noticing Dr Phlox and T'Pol looking at him expectantly, he opened his mouth to say something, but what came out was not what he had intended.
"He's so green!"
T'Pol raised an amused eyebrow.
"That's perfectly normal." Phlox gave him a bright smile. "Think of how human newborns look all red. Don't worry, Commander."
Trip blushed. "I didn't mean - "
At that moment his newborn son opened his mouth and began to wail. Gently Dr Phlox took the baby out of his arms and gave him to T'Pol. On wobbly legs Trip moved over to the chair next to the bio bed and sat down. He looked at the bundle in T'Pol's arms and suddenly the baby opened his eyes. They're blue, Trip thought, and he broke into a grin. Lifting his eyes he looked at T'Pol and saw an answering smile on her lips.
-###-
Half an hour later T'Pol and the baby had fallen asleep and Dr Phlox had sent him to his quarters to get some rest. He stepped out onto the hallway and was immediately surrounded by Jon, Hoshi and Malcolm, who'd apparently been waiting outside the sick bay doors.
"How did it go?" Jon asked.
"How does he look like?" Hoshi wanted to know.
"Is eveything all right?" Malcolm looked slightly concerned.
"Wow, how long have you been standing here?" Trip asked. As an afterthought he added: "Who has the con?"
"Travis," Jon said.
"I bet." Trip grinned. "To answer your questions, it went well, he's gorgeous and everything's perfectly fine. They're both sleeping now."
"Well, what about the name?" Malcolm asked. "Have you decided yet?"
"Charles Tucker IV?" Hoshi piped up.
"I don't think so," Trip said. "We've decided to call him Sam."
"Sam?" Archer raised his eyebrows. "Didn't T'Pol want a Vulcan name?"
"It is a Vulcan name. We found out that the name exists in both cultures."
"So the name is just Sam?" Hoshi asked.
"It's Sam Jonathan," Trip said with a slight smile. Malcolm and Hoshi both turned to Archer. Jon looked surprised at first, but then a grin spread on his face and he put his arms around Trip, giving him a big hug.
"I'm really happy for you, Trip."
"Me too," Trip said and noticed that somehow he couldn't stop grinning.
-###-
A few days later T'Pol had not yet returned to duty. Well, she would have if Trip had allowed it but this time it had been no use arguing with him, for a change. For the next few weeks Archer had put him on light duties so he'd be able to spend some time with his family.
Right now there were only two hours left of his shift and Trip was counting the minutes. Today it was his turn to bathe Sam and with this prospect in mind the updating of the sensors held no particular lure for him. Shifting in his seat, he looked up. Somehow he wasn't able to concentrate today. Across the bridge, Hoshi was totally absorbed in her work, as usual. Neither Malcolm nor Travis seemed to have taken notice of his fidgeting, and Trip bent back down to his work, determined to finish these damn updates.
The door of the situation room swished open and Archer stepped onto the bridge. A few minutes ago he had received a call from Admiral Forrest, and while that didn't necessarily mean good news, this time apparently there had been no bad surprises, either. There was a big smile on Archer's face as he walked over to Trip's station.
"Tell your parents they're going to see their grandson a lot sooner than they thought," he said cheerfully. "We're going home."
Trip couldn't keep the shock he felt from showing on his face. It was as if a bucket of ice cold water had been emptied over his head. Fortunately Archer didn't notice his dismayed expression.
"Well, it's no big surprise, of course, since we're en route to Alpha Centauri anyway. Command said if we're only two weeks away from Earth we could just as well drop by, download the gathered data and stay for a few days of shore leave. Now is this good news or not?"
Archer beamed at him. Hastily Trip plastered a smile onto his face.
"That's great," he said, trying to sound excited. "Thanks, Jon."
Archer gave him a big grin and sat in the Captain's chair. Trip sat paralyzed. Suddenly the thought he had tried to push aside all these months came back full force. He still hadn't told them, still hadn't written that damn letter.
Trip turned to his station pretending to go back to work, but there was no way he could concentrate now. For the first time in his life he hoped for the warp engines to break down.
-###-
The mess hall was empty when Trip entered, just as he had hoped it would be this late at night. He needed some time for himself, to sort out his thoughts and to decide what the hell he was going to do now. Without bothering to get himself something to drink as he usually did, he took a seat at a table way back in a corner at the window. Staring out at the blurred streaks of the stars passing by, he tried to calm down enough to be able to think of a solution to his problem, but there was only one thought drowning out everything else.
How could he have managed to ignore reality so thoroughly? Now he was trapped; he had to tell T'Pol he had let her down, that he had been too much of a coward to stand up to his mother, and he had to tell his parents that he had lied to them for more than a year. The image of his little son came to his mind and he felt a deep contempt for himself. He buried his face in his hands. Just then the door swished open and he looked up, startled.
It was Malcolm, with a padd in his hand. Trip made no sound and hoped that the Armoury Officer would leave without noticing him, but no such luck.
"Can't sleep, Commander?" Malcolm took his tea out of the resequencer and came over to Trip's table. Sighing inwardly Trip motioned for him to sit down.
"Not really, no. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Malcolm pointed at his padd.
"I still have some work to do.
"Now?"
Malcolm shrugged and took a sip of his tea. For a while they sat in silence, then Malcolm suddenly looked up from his padd.
"You're not really looking forward to going back home, are you?"
Trip raised his head in surprise.
"What gives you the idea?"
"It was kind of obvious, you know." Malcolm smiled slightly. "Today on the bridge," he added at Trip's questioning look. "You didn't look exactly thrilled when you heard the news."
"You're right," Trip sighed. "Actually I'd rather avoid going home for the next fifteen years."
"I don't think our dilithium supplies will hold out that long."
Trip forced a smile. Several moments of silence followed.
"Your parents don't approve of your marriage with T'Pol."
Trip gave Malcolm an astonished look, but the Armoury Officer just looked back with no particular expression on his face. Obviously there was no use in denying the truth anymore. Trip shook his head miserably.
"They don't even know."
Malcolm blinked. "They don't know you've married?"
"They do know I've married, they just don't know who."
"You didn't tell them?"
Trip shook his head, not looking at Malcolm. "I couldn't. I just couldn't find the words to tell her I've married ... someone like T'Pol. She would never understand."
"Your mother?" Malcolm asked quietly.
Trip nodded. "She's always been like that. She's not a racist, really. She just hates it when people break with tradition, when things are done differently than they have been done for hundreds of years. And she won't forgive me for not living up to her expectations."
"Ah," Malcolm said. A world of understanding lay in that one syllable.
"If the neighbours ever found out, it would be the death of her. You can't imagine how the gossip gets around in that fucked-up backwater place. In a town where they talk about it for years when you haven't been at the Thanksgiving service, she'll never live it down if it becomes known that Susan Tucker's son has married a Vulcan."
A short moment of silence followed.
"What would happen if you told them now?" Malcolm asked finally.
Trip shook his head. "I don't know. I truly don't know."
"Perhaps... " Malcolm seemed to struggle for words. "Perhaps it would be best just to confront them with the situation. If you just showed up with T'Pol and the baby without a warning. To see how they react. Perhaps..." He trailed off.
Trip looked at him and nodded slowly.
"Perhaps that would be best."
Authors: Sita/ T'eyla
Genre: Angst/Romance
Rating: PG (for language)
Summary: When Enterprise is in Earth's orbit for a few days of shore leave, Trip, T'Pol and their newborn son go to visit Trip's parents. While on Earth they have to face the hostility and prejudices still existent in the human society of the 22nd century.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Enterprise, we're not making any money from this.
Chapter 3: Mothers and Sons
Trip had never imagined it would be so exhausting. For him, at least. He had always thought the father's part was just to sit outside on a hospital bench chewing fingernails and maybe pace a little. When Dr Phlox had asked him if he wanted to be present at the birth, he had been surprised at first, but after a moment's thought he had agreed. Now that it was over he was glad he had done so, but during the five hours in sickbay he had once or twice caught himself wishing he were somewhere else.
But all in all he had been relieved. The last four weeks had stretched endlessly and both he and T'Pol had been tired of waiting, although she never would have admitted it. She had insisted on working her shifts, until two weeks ago Archer had put his foot down and had banished her from the bridge. But at that point she hadn't minded that much anymore staying in her quarters most of the time, since it had become quite a problem for her to wear the tight fitting Vulcan uniform. One evening Trip had entered their quarters to find her sitting at her desk wearing his favourite old shirt he kept for visits to the beach on shore leave. He had resisted the temptation to remind her of the occasion when she had quite bluntly voiced her doubts about his taste in decent clothing as he had come to the bridge wearing that very shirt.
"You look like my aunt Kate in her church dress," he had said instead and had been rewarded with one of her famous drop dead stares.
They had gone to bed early that evening .In the middle of the night Trip had suddenly woken up to find her gone. First he had assumed she had gone to the mess hall again for a midnight snack, but then Dr Phlox had called from sickbay and asked him in a slightly scolding tone of voice if he didn't want to keep his wife company while she was in labour. Not bothering to change from his pajamas he had run all the way to sickbay. Skidding to a halt next to her bio bed he had demanded to know why she hadn't woken him up, but she had only raised an eyebrow.
"There was no need. You seemed to be quite exhausted tonight, and, being human, you need enough sleep to function properly."
He had opened his mouth and closed it again, knowing it would be no use arguing, and had instead listened to Dr Phlox lecture T'Pol about how important it was for a human father to be allowed to support his wife during the birth.
And supported her he had. T'Pol being T'Pol had stayed calm and controlled all the time, but there had been moments when despite her composure she had given him the feeling that he was helping her, after all.
In the end, when Dr Phlox let him hold his son for the first time, he was overwhelmed. He had never thought he would be so tiny.
My son, he thought. I can't believe it. Noticing Dr Phlox and T'Pol looking at him expectantly, he opened his mouth to say something, but what came out was not what he had intended.
"He's so green!"
T'Pol raised an amused eyebrow.
"That's perfectly normal." Phlox gave him a bright smile. "Think of how human newborns look all red. Don't worry, Commander."
Trip blushed. "I didn't mean - "
At that moment his newborn son opened his mouth and began to wail. Gently Dr Phlox took the baby out of his arms and gave him to T'Pol. On wobbly legs Trip moved over to the chair next to the bio bed and sat down. He looked at the bundle in T'Pol's arms and suddenly the baby opened his eyes. They're blue, Trip thought, and he broke into a grin. Lifting his eyes he looked at T'Pol and saw an answering smile on her lips.
-###-
Half an hour later T'Pol and the baby had fallen asleep and Dr Phlox had sent him to his quarters to get some rest. He stepped out onto the hallway and was immediately surrounded by Jon, Hoshi and Malcolm, who'd apparently been waiting outside the sick bay doors.
"How did it go?" Jon asked.
"How does he look like?" Hoshi wanted to know.
"Is eveything all right?" Malcolm looked slightly concerned.
"Wow, how long have you been standing here?" Trip asked. As an afterthought he added: "Who has the con?"
"Travis," Jon said.
"I bet." Trip grinned. "To answer your questions, it went well, he's gorgeous and everything's perfectly fine. They're both sleeping now."
"Well, what about the name?" Malcolm asked. "Have you decided yet?"
"Charles Tucker IV?" Hoshi piped up.
"I don't think so," Trip said. "We've decided to call him Sam."
"Sam?" Archer raised his eyebrows. "Didn't T'Pol want a Vulcan name?"
"It is a Vulcan name. We found out that the name exists in both cultures."
"So the name is just Sam?" Hoshi asked.
"It's Sam Jonathan," Trip said with a slight smile. Malcolm and Hoshi both turned to Archer. Jon looked surprised at first, but then a grin spread on his face and he put his arms around Trip, giving him a big hug.
"I'm really happy for you, Trip."
"Me too," Trip said and noticed that somehow he couldn't stop grinning.
-###-
A few days later T'Pol had not yet returned to duty. Well, she would have if Trip had allowed it but this time it had been no use arguing with him, for a change. For the next few weeks Archer had put him on light duties so he'd be able to spend some time with his family.
Right now there were only two hours left of his shift and Trip was counting the minutes. Today it was his turn to bathe Sam and with this prospect in mind the updating of the sensors held no particular lure for him. Shifting in his seat, he looked up. Somehow he wasn't able to concentrate today. Across the bridge, Hoshi was totally absorbed in her work, as usual. Neither Malcolm nor Travis seemed to have taken notice of his fidgeting, and Trip bent back down to his work, determined to finish these damn updates.
The door of the situation room swished open and Archer stepped onto the bridge. A few minutes ago he had received a call from Admiral Forrest, and while that didn't necessarily mean good news, this time apparently there had been no bad surprises, either. There was a big smile on Archer's face as he walked over to Trip's station.
"Tell your parents they're going to see their grandson a lot sooner than they thought," he said cheerfully. "We're going home."
Trip couldn't keep the shock he felt from showing on his face. It was as if a bucket of ice cold water had been emptied over his head. Fortunately Archer didn't notice his dismayed expression.
"Well, it's no big surprise, of course, since we're en route to Alpha Centauri anyway. Command said if we're only two weeks away from Earth we could just as well drop by, download the gathered data and stay for a few days of shore leave. Now is this good news or not?"
Archer beamed at him. Hastily Trip plastered a smile onto his face.
"That's great," he said, trying to sound excited. "Thanks, Jon."
Archer gave him a big grin and sat in the Captain's chair. Trip sat paralyzed. Suddenly the thought he had tried to push aside all these months came back full force. He still hadn't told them, still hadn't written that damn letter.
Trip turned to his station pretending to go back to work, but there was no way he could concentrate now. For the first time in his life he hoped for the warp engines to break down.
-###-
The mess hall was empty when Trip entered, just as he had hoped it would be this late at night. He needed some time for himself, to sort out his thoughts and to decide what the hell he was going to do now. Without bothering to get himself something to drink as he usually did, he took a seat at a table way back in a corner at the window. Staring out at the blurred streaks of the stars passing by, he tried to calm down enough to be able to think of a solution to his problem, but there was only one thought drowning out everything else.
How could he have managed to ignore reality so thoroughly? Now he was trapped; he had to tell T'Pol he had let her down, that he had been too much of a coward to stand up to his mother, and he had to tell his parents that he had lied to them for more than a year. The image of his little son came to his mind and he felt a deep contempt for himself. He buried his face in his hands. Just then the door swished open and he looked up, startled.
It was Malcolm, with a padd in his hand. Trip made no sound and hoped that the Armoury Officer would leave without noticing him, but no such luck.
"Can't sleep, Commander?" Malcolm took his tea out of the resequencer and came over to Trip's table. Sighing inwardly Trip motioned for him to sit down.
"Not really, no. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Malcolm pointed at his padd.
"I still have some work to do.
"Now?"
Malcolm shrugged and took a sip of his tea. For a while they sat in silence, then Malcolm suddenly looked up from his padd.
"You're not really looking forward to going back home, are you?"
Trip raised his head in surprise.
"What gives you the idea?"
"It was kind of obvious, you know." Malcolm smiled slightly. "Today on the bridge," he added at Trip's questioning look. "You didn't look exactly thrilled when you heard the news."
"You're right," Trip sighed. "Actually I'd rather avoid going home for the next fifteen years."
"I don't think our dilithium supplies will hold out that long."
Trip forced a smile. Several moments of silence followed.
"Your parents don't approve of your marriage with T'Pol."
Trip gave Malcolm an astonished look, but the Armoury Officer just looked back with no particular expression on his face. Obviously there was no use in denying the truth anymore. Trip shook his head miserably.
"They don't even know."
Malcolm blinked. "They don't know you've married?"
"They do know I've married, they just don't know who."
"You didn't tell them?"
Trip shook his head, not looking at Malcolm. "I couldn't. I just couldn't find the words to tell her I've married ... someone like T'Pol. She would never understand."
"Your mother?" Malcolm asked quietly.
Trip nodded. "She's always been like that. She's not a racist, really. She just hates it when people break with tradition, when things are done differently than they have been done for hundreds of years. And she won't forgive me for not living up to her expectations."
"Ah," Malcolm said. A world of understanding lay in that one syllable.
"If the neighbours ever found out, it would be the death of her. You can't imagine how the gossip gets around in that fucked-up backwater place. In a town where they talk about it for years when you haven't been at the Thanksgiving service, she'll never live it down if it becomes known that Susan Tucker's son has married a Vulcan."
A short moment of silence followed.
"What would happen if you told them now?" Malcolm asked finally.
Trip shook his head. "I don't know. I truly don't know."
"Perhaps... " Malcolm seemed to struggle for words. "Perhaps it would be best just to confront them with the situation. If you just showed up with T'Pol and the baby without a warning. To see how they react. Perhaps..." He trailed off.
Trip looked at him and nodded slowly.
"Perhaps that would be best."
