PART 58 Author: Witezon@aol.com Pairing: A/T Rating: PG-13 Everything belongs to Paramount/UPN; but what I think up.

T'Pol quietly entered their darkened cabin and listened as Jonathon read to Jon. Looking up at her, Jonathon smiled, and his voice trailed off as Jon fell asleep.

Taking her hand, he pulled her back out to the main room, 'What took you so long? Problems?'

'No, the bridge reports normal.'

With an 'uh huh' look that said he didn't buy it, 'I wasn't worried about the ship. Tell me.'

They sat down on the couch, 'I took Riann to the Supply Room, with Lt Salenger, and she chose the items she needed. I then took her back to her quarters and instructed her on the use of the intercom in case she needed something.'

Gesturing for her to continue, only garnered him an arched eyebrow in reply. 'Aisha, I know more happened.'

'Oh?'

'I felt your shields go up.'

'My shields are always up.'

Surprised by her prevarication, 'Well, if its really personal, I won't pry. But I'd really like to know what Riann said to make you shield your thoughts from me.'

After a moment, she explained. Jonathon was shocked, then angry. 'That--'

'Now you see why I did not want to bring it up.'

'You know she's just saying that, right?' Pulling her onto his lap, 'I'm not going away with her, and we're trying to figure out a way for Jon to stay with us.'

She touched her forehead to his, 'I know. That is why I did not want to mention it. I trust you, Jonathon. You are my mate.'

Quietly kissing her, 'Do you think he is asleep enough yet?'

'Yes.'

SIX DAYS LATER

Jonathon stared out the port hole at the Vulcan ship cruising next to them. Shaking his head at the strange and unexpected turn of events, he thought about everything that happened this last week.

It had started off quietly enough. Quietly, if you discounted having several of your in-laws staying with you and a woman who is the biological mother of your son, but that she had stolen his genetic materials to create that son. That sounded like something that would happen on one of those old soap operas they had studied in cinematic history in school. Exhaling, Jonathon stared at the ship. His whole life was on that ship. Shaking his head, he thought back to all the chaos this week had brought. T'Pol had gently teased him about hiding in his ready room during the week. She wasn't wrong, he was hiding -- from Riann. She wasn't allowed on this deck and they (T'Pol and Jonathon) hadn't made a decision yet about her future.

Then he'd been spent a lot of time with S'Talen talking about his father, what his father thought, and the rest of his family, which hadn't been difficult as he thought it could have been. T'Pol had tried to intervene saying that it wasn't necessary as they had already bonded, but Jonathon said he didn't mind.

S'Talen was dignified, kind, and very understanding. He'd been surprised at how comfortable the conversation had been. He expected a Vulcan version of 'what the heck do you think you're doing with my great granddaughter and what are your intentions' speech. Eventually he told S'Talen that. He could have sworn S'Talen smiled, but all he said that was he would leave that to Soval. He couldn't wait.

S'Talen had also filled in some blanks for the typical Vulcan bonding ceremony. T'Pol had told him most of it, but some questions could only be answered male to male. Unfortunately, this wasn't a typical Vulcan bonding ceremony.

Taking his eyes away from the Vulcan ship, Archer looked down on his desk at the digi-pic Phlox had given him of T'Pol and Jon. It wasn't anything special, just a picture of them in Sickbay. Jon was grinning up at T'Pol, pulling her somewhere to show her something. T'Pol, of course, wasn't smiling or laughing, but you could see the affection in her eyes as she looked at him. In the beginning, he wondered at how easily Jon accepted T'Pol's unemotional stature, but now he knew that her very unemotionalism was a welcome relief to the little boy.

He'd also worried that his Vulcan in-laws might treat Jon like he wasn't worthy of their attention. But they had proven his worry wrong. They considered him blood kin which would be formalized with the bonding ceremony.

You could see the impact they already had on him with their quiet manners and methods. Yeah, Jon was an all human boy; noisy, touchy, and full of emotion which blew different ways depending on his mood. He was allowed to act like a human child around them, but more quietly. They were ever so slowly teaching him to control himself. It was amazing to watch and he hoped that if his family had lived, they would have treated T'Pol and Jon as T'Pol's family treated him and Jon, and Trip for that matter.

Of course, Soval hadn't gotten there yet.

Then there was Riann. Shaking his head, he took a sip of his tepid coffee. Can we return her to her world with what she knows? She wants to return to her home -- desperately -- she's told me that several times over the past week.

'Let's see: Monday she'd yelled at me; Tuesday, she pleaded; Wednesday, tried to seduce me; and, Thursday, she attacked and then cried.'

Snorting, he remembered the great day that Thursday had been. Thursday she attacked T'Pol and her family saying that they were polluting Jon's mind against her. He had gritted his teeth and listened for 5 minutes then told her that she had given Jon to him and Jon was going to stay regardless of what she said or did. That she had better understand that she had brought all of this down on herself by her own hand.

Grinding his teeth together, he thought about their last meeting on Friday.

She had asked him to come to her quarters, which he did. Grudgingly. He knew what she wanted to talk about.

"Jonathon, I want to go home." She kept her distance from him. She had learned that to try to touch him only made the conversations shorter.

Watching her, "Yes, I know. We've been thinking about that." Her jaw tightened when he said 'we', but didn't say anything.

He leaned against the wall, "Our only concern is how you would fit back into your society after everything you've seen and done."

Taking a calming breath, she conceded that point, "True. However, I don't believe that that would be a problem. It is my home and, as a woman there, I can't contribute to much change. But with what additional knowledge I gained while on board your ship about herbs, I can use that to help others in my town."

He nodded. He and T'Pol had discussed this very subject last night. It was a valid request and they were leaning towards granting it.

She studied him, "I want to take Jon back with me."

Frowning at her, "That's not going to happen. Jon is staying here with us."

Still calmly, "But I love him, I had him, and he should be with me."

Disbelief, "Yes, you had him. But you know he would die if he left the ship."

"Why can't your doctor make up some of the medicines and just give them to me? I can give them to him everyday."

Jonathon explained, for the fourth time, "Riann, the doctors have explained to you why this can't be done. If he went with you, he'd die. The injections need to be re-engineered as his disease changes and he needs constant medical attention."

"But I love him and he loves me. He wants to come home with me."

Stunned, Jonathon stared at her. Jon tolerated her at best. When she and Jon did spend time together, it was awkward and often left him hard to handle or he'd clingy. Jon would beg not to go to see her and clutch at T'Pol or him, even S'Talen and Trip, when he knew she was coming. That made a hard situation incredibly difficult and made him feel very guilty. T'Pol and S'Talen got extremely quiet when Jon clung to them, and Trip, he looked sad and sighed a lot.

Finally, and very calmly, "Riann, Jon is staying with us on the Enterprise. He loves it here, we love him, and we can help him fight his illness."

She started to get angry, "Well, he'd want to be with me if he wasn't spending so much time with that --" at his look, she changed that to "...with T'Pol. He's either with her, her family, you, the doctor, the engineer, or that crewman. If he had time to get used to me, again, he'd want to be with me."

Later that same day, Jonathon had told T'Pol about his conversation with Riann. "Do you think she really believes the stuff she says?"

"No."

He blinked. "Okay, anything else?" She looked at him, "I do not fully understood all the implications of everything that is going on in her mind or nor do I have experience in a similar situation. T'Pel, Storen, and I have also discussed this, trying to find an understanding."

Surprised, "What'd you come up with?"

He felt amusement in the bond, "That we are Vulcans."

Sighing, "Anything else, Oh Great Vulcan Comedian?"

"Yes, we believe it is about power and self-esteem."

Nodding, "Yeah. I don't think its about Jon, either."

"Not the younger one."

Shocked, "Oh."

At her arched eyebrow, "I, ah, I was thinking the same." He shrugged and looked uncomfortable.

T'Pol crossed the room and hugged him, 'Aisha, she is attempting to control the circumstances through controlling you. It is not appropriate, but you are not alone."

Jonathon crushed her to him, 'And I'm very thankful for it.' They merged deeper into the bond. After a few moments, they pulled back.

Back to the present. Sighing he looked at the Shikahr. Then came Saturday and Soval.

CONTINUED IN PART 59