The
Cultural Addition
a Star
Trek: Enterprise - based fan fiction
by: Joycelyn
Solo
Summary: An unexpected pregnancy has some interesting consequences
for Trip, T'Pol, the Enterprise and the future of Humanity.
Author's note: This story takes place Season Three, so
expect general episodic references, but with definite AU qualities.
Disclaimer: Star Trek: Enterprise and associated
characters are property of Paramount Pictures. I mean no copyright
infringement, this story is for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Trip/T'Pol Romance; Mystery
Special Thanks: To my ever-patient beta, Stub.
Author's Note: While this story is definitely AU, I am
picking and choosing various pieces of "true Trek" (ie:
what happens on the show) to work into the plot.
Chapter Twenty-Nine - Home is where the liver is
After a week of discussions, in which Archer, Soval, Shran and representatives from all five Xindi species participated, it was time for the Earth, Vulcan and Andorian vessels to return home. And, as agreed, one Xindi vessel carrying delegates chosen by the Council would accompany them.
Standing in Engineering, Trip watched as his crew made a final check of Enterprise. Thanks to the Xindi engineers, the Enterprise, the Surak and the Kumari had been modified in order to traverse the subspace conduits their vessels used throughout the Expanse. Not only would the ships be able to avoid further complications from anomalies, but the return trip to more familiar space would be only forty hours instead of as many days.
After Hess handed him her final checklist, Trip moved to the nearest communicator. "Tucker to the Bridge."
"Go ahead, Trip."
"We're ready to go whenever the Vulcans and Andorians are, Cap'n."
"That's good to hear, Trip. I think we're all ready to go home."
Home, Trip thought, cutting the connection. He wasn't quite sure where that was going to be yet. For most everyone aboard, that meant Earth. For Trip...
Soval had attempted once again to get T'Pol to go to Vulcan with him aboard the Surak. T'Pol had, once again, declined.
However, after discussing it with his wife, Trip wasn't sure it was an entirely bad idea.
"Human medicine has come a long way, T'Pol, but I don't know if any doctor on Earth is going to have a clue what to do when the twins are ready to come out. Maybe going to Vulcan's not such a bad plan, at least for a little while."
Seated at the Mess Hall table, picking at the large breakfast her husband continued to insist that she eat, T'Pol allowed one eyebrow to rise ever-so-slightly.
"I mean, they do have air conditioning on Vulcan, right? What with all the Human visitors they get."
"Vulcan does not entertain that many Human visitors, Husband."
"Well, we can probably stay at the Earth Embassy, then. I'm sure they've got something suitable for us less rugged beings. Considering our success in the Expanse, I'm sure Admiral Forrest can probably pull a few strings for us."
Captain Archer, though disappointed to lose his engineer and science officer, was not surprised by their decision. The captain even made the arrangements for the couple, working with Admiral Forrest and Soval to secure accommodations for the Tuckers once they reached Vulcan.
Though Soval never broke Vulcan form around his son-in-law, Trip was pretty sure that beneath his Vulcan exterior the ambassador was practically ecstatic. Soval was most likely convinced that, once T'Pol was back on Vulcan and surrounded by her people, she would forget the Human influence and once again embrace the logical way.
Trip doubted that very much. Even without ever saying it aloud, he knew that his wife loved him very much - nearly as much as he loved her. Despite Soval's insistence that the birth of the twins would "break the hold" Trip had over T'Pol, the engineer had no fear that, wherever he made his home, T'Pol would be there with him.
"Alright, Hess." Trip pulled himself back to the present and addressed the lieutenant. "You're in charge. If you run into any problems, which I doubt, you can reach my over on the Surak until we change course for Vulcan."
Hess nodded, accepting the PADD the commander handed to her. "I'm sure we'll be fine, sir. I just can't believe you're going to miss the celebration on Earth."
"I'll have my own celebrating to do shortly after we arrive on Vulcan," Trip reminded her, grinning broadly with pride.
"You'll send us pictures, right, sir?"
"I already have my camera packed."
Though the trip to Vulcan took a fraction of the time Enterprise spent in the Expanse, Trip doubted he could have taken another day aboard the Surak.
It wasn't that the Vulcans had gone out of their way to be rude to the Human engineer or his wife, but they hadn't done much - even by Vulcan standards - to make the two feel welcome.
With the exception of T'Vin, it seemed that none of the Vulcan crew had any desire to share company with the "tainted" T'Pol. Not only was she carrying half-Human children, but she had bound herself to a member of the irrational species. If her decision to stay aboard Enterprise or her actions at P'Jem hadn't already made her a stigma among her own people, her marriage to Trip had certainly cemented her position.
Added to that, the exhaustion of the Xindi ordeal and the final stages of a difficult pregnancy were taking their toll on T'Pol. Sheer exhaustion strained her ability to control her emotions. Even her own father - the one who had convinced her to board the Surak - was uncomfortable in her presence and spent the entire journey in his own company.
When they had entered orbit around Vulcan and the airlock doors had moved to reveal the Starfleet ensign who would pilot the Tuckers down to Vulcan, it took a great deal of restraint for Trip not to hug the young man. He was sure such an action would have been embarrassing for both him and the pilot, but it might have been worth it just to see the looks on the faces of their Vulcan hosts.
T'Pol must have sensed his mirth as the 'pod left the Surak's bay because she said, "I trust you will refrain from embracing the admiral's attaché when he greets us at the Embassy."
Trip smiled. "I'll try my best, but if the suite Forrest got us is nearly as nice as the Cap'n says it is..."
Unable to help herself, T'Pol smiled at the image that formed in her mind. She wondered how receptive the secretarial officer would be to her husband's affections. After that thought, however, she felt immediate shame for having it. A proper, logical Vulcan did not engage is such flights of fancy. A proper Vulcan could -
"Hey, now," Trip said, wrapping an arm about T'Pol and drawing her close. With one hand, he wiped an errant tear from her cheek. She had not even realized that she had begun to cry - and hated the betrayal of her emotions. Though she'd been relieved by the ambassador's decision to use the transporter rather than share the shuttlepod, T'Pol couldn't deny the disappointment she felt. Soval - her own father - couldn't bring himself to be around her in this irrational state.
"You've been through a hell of a lot the last several months," Trip said, his voice low and soothing as it cut into her troubled thoughts. "I don't think anyone - Human or Vulcan - has a right to judge a couple of mood swings from a woman about to give birth."
Unable to speak for fear of another bout of uncontrollable emotion, T'Pol merely nodded as she allowed herself comfort in her husband's embrace.
As the ensign piloted the craft to the landing pad behind the Earth Embassy, T'Pol watched the familiar scenery come into view. In the past, the sight of Mount Seleya in the distance or Vulcan's sister planet as it filled the sky would have been a welcome reminder that she was returning home.
Strangely, the familiarity of the scene only strengthened the void she felt. The sight of home should have been a comfort, but she realized that the only true sense of home she felt was wrapped up in the Human beside her.
Trip wasn't sure what he had expected when they arrived at Vulcan's Earth Embassy, but it was nothing compared to the reception that awaited them.
Almost immediately after their shuttlepod touched down, the landing platform was overrun with officers, diplomats and civilians.
Ensign Selina Kyle, on behalf of Admiral Gardner, explained that many of the Vulcan-stationed personnel wanted to have their own celebration. He knew it was nothing compared to the festivities that awaited the rest of the Enterprise crew on Earth, but having two heroes in residence had motivated an effort to honor them.
Trip, touched by the unexpected gesture, looked over at T'Pol. He was worried that a party would be too much for her, considering her current emotional and physical state. However, the exhausted woman he had comforted moments before on the shuttlepod had been replaced by the calm and collected woman he knew and loved - even if she was having some difficulty keeping a small smile from her lips.
"A few of the romantics around here wanted to give you a bit of a wedding celebration as well, Commander," Kyle continued. "We even managed to work in a surprise for you."
"I'd say this is surprise enough," Trip said to himself as Kyle walked away. Turning to his wife, he noticed that T'Pol's attention was focused elsewhere. Following her gaze, Trip saw that Soval had joined the party already - and was in the company of a Vulcan woman Trip had not seen before.
Actually, despite being sure he'd never met the woman, Trip felt as though he knew her. Staring hard, he hit the realization. "Hey, T'Pol, that isn't -"
"My mother."
From a distance, Trip watched the exchange between T'Les and Soval, his in-laws. It was his understanding that the two hadn't seen each other in more than a year, and their greeting didn't even consist of the traditional finger-holding T'Pol allowed her Human husband. He wondered if there were problems between the couple or if, perhaps, all Vulcan marriages were as cold as theirs seemed.
He certainly hoped not. Trip couldn't imagine spending a lifetime - and for Vulcans it was a considerably longer lifetime - with someone he didn't love, let alone barely tolerated. Maybe it was merely the suppression of their emotions that made it seem loveless, but Trip found it hard to believe that someone as vibrant and passionate as T'Pol could have come from such a lifeless pair.
As they approached his in-laws, Trip felt T'Pol's fingers as they brushed against his in a reassuring gesture. My mother has not always agreed with my father's views.
Before Trip could send a question back at his wife, T'Les focused her attention on the two of them.
"It pleases me to see you well, Daughter."
"And I, you, Mother." Unbidden, the smile on T'Pol's lips widened.
Soval, seeing the display, explained with disapproval in his voice, "The advancing stages of our daughter's pregnancy has had an adverse effect on her emotional control."
T'Les, however, did not seem to mind as she took her daughter's hand in hers. "Our daughter is handling a difficult situation very well, Husband." T'Les turned her attention to Trip. "With the support of her companion, no doubt."
"Mother, this is Commander Charles Tucker. My husband."
T'Les nodded slightly. "Soval informed me of your bonding." Though Trip strained to hear it, there was no sense of Vulcan disapproval in T'Les' voice. Maybe he'd only have to worry about one in-law gunning for him.
Too bad the one in-law was gunning for both him and T'Pol. "Perhaps, Commander, T'Pol should be escorted to your suite. I am sure she is in need of rest."
If Trip could have believed that Soval had his daughter's welfare in mind, he would have been touched by the ambassador's suggestion. However, since both he and T'Pol doubted her father's intentions, neither was pleased with his attempt to hide her away while her current condition could have been an embarrassment to him.
"I have spent enough time resting on the Surak, Father," T'Pol said, her gaze level with Soval's. "A lot of effort has been put into this reception and one of the first rules diplomacy I learned from you was to avoid insulting my host."
She's got you there, Soval, Trip thought, using everything T'Pol had taught him to stop his own grin from spreading across his face.
"Very well," the ambassador conceded. "I must report to the High Command." He looked to T'Les. "Will you accompany me, Wife?"
"I will remain here, Husband, with our daughter and her mate."
"Very well." With a final look - glare, really - at Trip, Soval turned and left the party.
With all the celebrating going on, no one else seemed to notice his departure.
