Sorry for the delay! Here's the next chapter!
Trip felt slightly nervous as he walked to T'Pol's quarters to collect his young charge. He had cared for babies before; when Lizzie was little he'd changed her and fed her, and he'd also watched his nephews and niece on more than one occasion. This was different though, this little girl was almost his daughter. Every time he looked into her eyes, eyes that looked similar to the ones he saw in the mirror each day, he would get a little shiver down his spine and think, for a moment, of things that could have been. He suspected that T'Pol felt the same way.
T'Pol. Since the arrival of Aisha, the feelings that he had for her had all come rushing back from where he'd so carefully repressed them. He'd never felt these feelings before, sentiments of love and passion that were only aroused when she was around. Those feelings went deep, and he was slightly reluctant to admit that he may be in love with her.
He looked up in surprise to notice that while he'd been thinking, he'd reached his destination. He rang the door chime once, and after a moment the door swished open to reveal the Vulcan of his heart.
"Thank you very much for your assistance Commander." she said, once he had entered. "Lieutenant Reed is anxious to start our modifications."
"You're welcome."
"Have you cared for children before?" she asked, staring him in the eyes.
"Yep. My brother's got three kids, and I've watched them all before for a couple of weekends. Plus, I helped take care of Lizzie when she was a baby." A pang of hurt resounded through him as he thought of his baby sister, but he quickly recovered.
T'Pol, however, noticed, but said nothing. "I will return as soon as possible. The lieutenant and I are hoping to establish how the vessel came through to this universe so that we can dispatch the beacon."
"Good luck." Trip wished her, as she gathered her PADDs and left the room.
He stood still for a moment, then moved forwards and peered down into the small crib. Two blue orbs stared up at him, as the little girl stayed quiet. He met her stare for am minute, then broke into a wide grin and lifted her up out of the crib.
He sat her onto his lap, and tickled her underneath her chin, causing the child to giggle and smile. he laughed with her, and opened one of the two books he had brought with him from Earth. One was his youngest nephew's book, that he had give to his Uncle Charlie 'to read in case he got bored' and the other was Lizzie's favourite from when she had been little.
Trip read them both to Aisha, as she stared at all the pictures and laughed when Trip would tickle her and point to the animals in the books. She was a very quiet child, compared to the others he had spent time with before. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that she was part Vulcan.
He played peek-a-boo with her, and chased her about the room as she crawled about. After about an hour and a half, both chaser and chased were tired out. Aisha's eyes began to droop, and Trip placed her back into her crib gently.
"Night." he said softly to her, as her eyes drifted close. He sat on T'Pol's bed, unsure of what to do now, then decided to review one of his engineering updates from Earth. He found it, however, hard to concentrate, and his thoughts drifted off once more.
He thought of that alternate universe, where he and T'Pol were married, or at least together, one where he and her had a child. He thought about how Aisha's mother was now gone, and how they were going to get her home. Mostly, he thought about if he and T'Pol were to ever get married and have a baby. He'd never really considered him and T'Pol to be a good match, but if recent events were to show anything, he'd decided that he was willing to give it a try.
He was immersed in his thoughts when he heard a soft cry from the direction of Aisha's cradle. He got up hurriedly and looked down. The little girl had turned very pale, and was shaking. He picked her up, wrapped her in a blanket and hurriedly rushed out of the room and down towards Sickbay, worried for the health of his counterpart's child.