Oh, Mama!

By Anna Yolei

Chapter Four: Late Night Munchies

I don't own ENT or any of the characters, ect.

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"…and here are the first pictures of your baby," Phlox said to them the next day.

The three of them were in Sick Bay, looking at Phlox's scan of T'Pol.

"Oh, wow!" an excited Jonathon exclaimed. "T'Pol, look at this!"

T'Pol sat up off the imaging chamber to take a look at their child. It did not show, bus she was very proud. Seeing the images of the baby made it seem very real for the both of them. Jonathon gripped onto her hand and smiled.

"How far along is she?" he asked.

"I say three-and-a-half weeks….that would go back to the night when the two of you were here in sick bay…" he contemplated

"Yes, we figured," Jonathon said quickly while turning slightly pink. T'Pol turned an equally pale shade of green.

Phlox fixed up a regiment of nutrients in a hypospray that he administered to T'Pol. "Ah. There you go. From the tests I've been doing, I can tell that your baby's Vulcan DNA will be very dominant, so this medication will suffice. Nevertheless, I still consider this to be high-risk due to the uniqueness of the situation, so I'd like you to check up if anything seems wrong."

"Indeed." T'Pol wouldn't need a second reminder. Jonathon placed a protective hand over her belly.

"I guess we'll be seeing you in eight months, then," he cooed.

"Nine," Phlox corrected. "The Vulcan gestation is ten human months."

Jonathon merely grinned and gave T'Pol a kiss on the forehead. He couldn't believe they were having a baby!

Nevertheless, the idea did settle in his mind, and once the initial shock wore off Jonathon grew to enjoy the experience more. The Archers became more openly affectionate towards one another, and everyone quickly took notice.

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"Aww, look at them," Travis laughed one afternoon with Hoshi two weeks later.

He was watching as Jonathon came up to T'Pol, who was looking out the window with a cup of tea, and rubbed her back. T'Pol then placed her cup down and brought him in for a very long kiss. It was something that very few people had ever seen them do when they thought no one was looking, let alone with half the crew on lunch break.

"Yeah, they've been doing that a lot lately," Hoshi commented. "It's so sweet how they're so affectionate to one another…it's so romantic…"

She let out a very unbecoming sniff while wiping her eyes.

"Um…are you okay, there?" Travis asked, a bit concerned. He shouldn't' have been, since Hoshi had been pregnant for over seven weeks now, and her mood flip-flopped more than the shoe of the same name. But he was always the polite gentleman and asked her just the same.

"Oh...it's just hormones," she replied as the last of her tears subsided. "Speaking of that, I was supposed to see Phlox today…he's been acting really excited lately, keeps saying something about having two babies aboard the ship."

"Wait…are you having twins?!"

"I don't think so," Hoshi replied. "Besides, I'm not having a baby for my sake, remember?"

Travis nodded. "Right, right…but still, it's a part of you, ya know?"

Hoshi hadn't thought about it much in those terms. She knew the baby would have half her DNA, but never had she thought of the infant—a baby girl, she was told—to be her child. After all, Malcolm and Hayes would be raising her as their own, wouldn't they? And how much input would she have? Suddenly, she was beginning to have second doubts…she needed a bit of rest to think about this.

"Where are you doing?" Travis asked as she stood up.

"I need to take a nap…I'm feeling a bit sluggish," and Hoshi walked off. "See you in a few hours."

"Right...see you," he called back.

Once Hoshi got to her quarters, she tucked her head into her pillow and cried.

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Later that night…

T'Pol woke up from one of the most realistic dreams in her life.

Except for some erotic dreams involving herself and Jonathon early on in their relationship (and even before that), she'd never experienced a dream that brought about a want for anything as strongly as it did right now. This time, she didn't crave intimacy; she craved marshmallows.

There was only one time T'Pol had tried a marshmallow, about two years ago during an overnight away mission that required the away team to sleep outdoors in tents. Jonathon had brought a bag down to use for S'mores, a type of human dessert that was eaten on camping trips. She hadn't eaten the S'more (since T'Pol's stomach did not agree well with chocolate), but welcomed a sample of the flame-heated sugar puff. But she had found it to be much too messy, and had never tried that again.

Now, here she was awake at 2400 hours with a yearning for the sugary snack, and feeling uncertain as to follow it.

It's not very nutritious; the logical part of T'Pol's orderly mind spoke, especially with you being with child.

The Vulcan woman tried to rationalize her thoughts, and thought back on what she had eaten throughout the course of the day— two bowls of bran cereal with soy milk, as per Phlox breakfast suggestions; polmeek soup with two sides of breadsticks for lunch; three helpings of meatless chow mien for dinner; and two carrot sticks for snacks. It all fell under Phlox' approved diet, and logically, this bit of sugar would not do any harm.

But yet, T'Pol remained reluctant, trying to keep control of herself. It would not due to gain unnecessary weight, as she would have to return to duty after the birth of the baby. She also knew that she did not enjoy eating marshmallows. So why should she want them now?

Nothing she thought of would put her mind at ease. As a last resort, T'Pol walked over to the comm system and pressed down on the button.

"T'Pol to Phlox." After a moment, he responded.

"Yes, Sub-Commander. Is everything all right?"

"Doctor, I'm having difficulty in suppressing a certain craving for…marshmallows."

T'Pol heard Phlox chuckle from the other end of the comm. "Oh, it's all right to indulge a tiny bit. These sorts of craving are perfectly normal in any humanoid gestation, including Vulcans. I trust you've been sticking to the diet I suggested?"

"Correct," she stated.

"Good. So a few little marshmallows won't hurt you. You baby will be fine." The link between then died, and she watched as Jonathon turned form one side to the other in his sleep. Having her anxiety pushed aside, she walked out the room towards the mess hall without bothering to change into her uniform.

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Trip Tucker looked for a slice of Chef's pecan pie in the Mess Hall food compartment. Every Thursday night, Chef made pecan pie and usually, there were no less than two extra slices left over this time of night. Tonight, there was none to be had.

Damnit! I didn't get any earlier, 'cause I had to work late, he told himself mentally.

Tucker sighed and turned around to walk out. It was then that he noticed Hoshi sitting near the window with one empty saucer in front of her and was holding another that contained a half-eaten slice of pecan pie. She soon took notice of Trip watching her.

"Sir?"

Trip shook his head and smiled. "Nothing, Hoshi. Just enjoy that pie." He couldn't be disappointed about not getting his favorite dessert anymore; After all, Malcolm's baby needed it more than he did.

As he started to go, the doors to the Mess Hall whooshed open, and T'Pol stepped in. Both Trip and Hoshi's eyes widened as they noted she was not in her standard uniform, nor even in something casual. There she was, walking in there in her short-chopped pajamas, which served to make her long legs look longer and her midriff that much smaller. On top of this, she was barefooted. The cold plating was none too comforting to humans, much less to a Vulcan, where the average winter temperature was twenty-five degrees Celsius.

But T'Pol had felt nothing; she had only one thing in mind and barely stopped before running into Trip. She noticed the concern in his eyes.

"Um…," he began, "You know, ya could have put on something that wasn't so reveling. I don't think Jon would be too happy with you swearing something like that around the ship."

It was only then that she realized she had not changed her clothing as she looked down. T'Pol avoided showing her embarrassment by stating to Trip, "I'm sure at your age, the female anatomy is nothing new to you."

Hoshi choked back a laugh at this. Everyone on Enterprise knew of Trip's reputation with women.

The Engineer was flustered and confused. It was then he decided to have a talk with Jonathon about this. "Well…good-night, T'Pol" was about all he could manage to say to her without laughing at the oddness of this situation.

After Trip had left, T'Pol noticed Ensign Sato was in the Hall also—and something else caught her attention as well.

"Sub-Commander. Anything I can help you with?"

T'Pol grabbed a fork and went to sit with Hoshi. "May I?"

Hoshi looked at the half-eaten pecan pie. Oh, how it did look good…but it wasn't every day that a Vulcan asked to sample Earth cuisine, and poor Commander Tucker didn't get any…she pushed the plate over to T'Pol.

"Here you go. Exactly what brought this on?" She asked, and T'Pol raised an eyebrow at her.

"I was curious to try it out," she answered after a moment, and began to shovel piece after piece into her mouth.

In the midst of her own cravings, T'Pol failed to notice Hoshi was growing agitated at her pie being eaten. But her Japanese upbringing had taught her not to be rude when possible, so she remain quiet…that and the fact that she'd eaten way too many sweets already today. Nevertheless, this was very strange behavior for anyone. The fact that it was none other than the Vulcan First Officer made this oddness double. It didn't even look like T'Pol was taking time to even breathe between bites!

Hoshi tried to dispel some of the silence. "So…there's a lot of people that want to learn Vulcan now on Earth. Interesting, isn't it?"

"Vulcan is not as difficult to learn as English," she said with a full mouth, and Hoshi said nothing more.

Pretty soon, T'Pol had consumed the whole of the slice and remembered too late that Sato had only offered her a sample. Her cheeks turned the slightest of green, but under the dark lighting it went unnoticed.

"I...apologize, Ensign, for eating the entire thing," she said. "I realize that you are pregnant as well and have overwhelming cravings."

Well, it's nice to see her apologize, she thought irritably. Outside, she replied, "Oh, it's nothing. I'm getting used to this…especially since it's for a good cause. Two people that want a baby and can't have one…and they're both my friends, you know."

T'Pol nodded. Before she had realized Lieutenant Reed's sexual preference, T'Pol had thought he and Sato would have been a becoming couple.

"I guess a Vulcan wouldn't have cravings during pregnancy, would she?"

The look on the Vulcan's face gave nothing away. "Our two people have many similarities, Hoshi."

Just then, T'Pol remembered what she had come for. "Do you know if there are any marshmallows aboard this ship?"

Okay, this is odd, Hoshi said to herself. She had also been on the same away mission where T'Pol got her first and only taste of marshmallow. She saw T'Pol had one hell of a time rinsing the flavor of it out of her mouth after the campfire. Now, why would she be after something she doesn't like to eat?

Hoshi did not have time to give an answer. T'Pol had already began to raid the galley cabinets before finding the canister labeled "Marshmallows: Captain's Use Only" and opened it up to eat a handful.

Jonathon never told me about this, she said. But she was thankful for it nonetheless. But by the third handful, the sugary taste was becoming overwhelming. At the same time, she found she just could not stop eating them, and pretty soon, the Captain's personal stash was no more.

What the hell? If I didn't know better, I'd say we'd switched places, because that is exactly how I feel when I have cravings. Ever since I got pregnant, I…

Hoshi remembered what T'Pol had said earlier: ­I realize that you are pregnant as well…

…And what Phlox had slipped up in saying about two babies aboard the ship…

"Oh, my God…" Hoshi said quietly, but as she was the only other person in the room, T'Pol heard this rather easily. Hoshi's eyes fell to T'Pol's tight, small waistline and gasped.

"Oh, wow! I never thought…I mean…You're pregnant!?"

T'Pol's eyes widened and looked at her own stomach. "Surely, I can't be showing this early along."

Hoshi laughed. "Sub-Commander, you're not showing…not yet…but your behavior tonight, with the pie and your appearance and eating marshmallows…you'd have to be clueless not to figure this one out."

The Vulcan woman thought about this. Indeed, she had not been thinking very logically these past few days. It most certainly wasn't logical to be seen in such reveling nightwear around the crew.

"Does anyone else know?" Hoshi asked excitedly.

"Only the Doctor, Jonathon and myself. It came as a surprise to all of us, for obvious reasons."

Well, that answers one of my questions.

"How far along are you?"

"Over five weeks," she answered, "but your child will be delivered about six weeks before my due date. Vulcan gestation is about ten months."

"But the baby's half human!"

T'Pol relaxed enough to sit back down and discuss the last two weeks with someone who understood what was going on with her. Jonathon was her spouse and bondmate, but even he could not understand fully what it meant to be fully responsible for a developing life. She realized this was even harder for Hoshi, who would not get to raise her daughter (as it turned out she was having a girl).

"I didn't think this though," she told T'Pol. "I just agreed with this, because Malcolm's been such a good friend, and he and the Major deserve happiness. It's just now…I think I'd like to...you know…keep her. I know, I can't help to be a little selfish…"

"Hoshi," T'Pol began, "do you think that would be logical?"

Hoshi wiped her eyes and looked at T'Pol with interest.

"It is my belief that two parents can be more beneficial than one parent, especially in this line of work. What would happen to your child if something were to happen to you?" At this, Hoshi nodded. T'Pol did have a point there. "If you were truly selfish, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Your compassion has made it possible for two people to have a child. That is something to be proud of. After all, it wasn't too long ago that I was in the same position as The Reed-Hayeses."

"Or thought you were," Hoshi pointed out.

At the moment, two things happened. The seed of friendship between T'Pol and Hoshi were planted. The moment was shattered by the sound of the doors opening once more, with Jonathon walking towards the both of them with a robe in one hand and slippers in the other, with a worried but stern look on his face. Both T'Pol and Hoshi stood up

"Jonathon," she stated, and Archer bent over to place the slippers over her feet.

"T'Pol, what are you doing walking around like this?" he asked. "You could have at least put on some shoes, so you don't freeze your ass off…"

"It's impossible to freeze on a starship with environmental controls."

Jonathon sighed and slipped the robe on her body, then picked her up to carry her out before he paid acknowledgement to Hoshi

"Um…as you were," was all he said. "It's a good thing Trip was here to let me know...of course the whole ship's going to know about the baby…" His last words were cut off by the doors closing behind them.

Hoshi looked down at her stomach.

"Don't worry. Your fathers won't be that over-protective till you discover boys."

TBC

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From Anna Yolei:

I'm beginning to enjoy this fic more and more. Wow, this is the best of both worlds for me: a humor fic with tinges of romance between Archer and T'Pol and Hoshi and Travis. And everyone knows my humor fics outnumber the romance stuff. More to come, soon.

NOTE: I'm looking for more betas, as I sent this out to my usual group, and no one responded. You can email me if you're interested.