Captain Archer's ready room: Ambassador Soval and Captain Archer entered his ready room, and Jonathon looked at the Ambassador.

"I take it that you want to talk about something?"

"Yes Captain, I do. It's about the safety of Elizabeth Tucker."

"What about her safety?"

"Well Captain, as you know, her unique heritage does pose a new variety of problems."

Jonathon just looked at Soval for a moment, the nodded his head. "Your right ambassador, but Trip and T'Pol will face those problems."

"I agree Captain, they will, and I believe that they will prevail."

"But..."

"But there are groups that might try to harm the child, or her family."

"Like Terra Prime?"

"They and others Captain. There is even groups on my world that may wish to harm the child." Jonathon smiled now, and he looked at Ambassador Soval.

..
"You really are T'Pol's friend. It may surprise you to find out, that Trip, T'Pol and I had a similar discussion just two days ago. We discussed this possible problem with Admiral Black. That's why were making some unofficial modifications to Enterprise."

Jonathon pulled up the schematics of the crew quarters. "As you can see, we're combining these two sets of crew quarters, and making them into a small apartment for the Tuckers, with limited access."

The Ambassador looked at the plans, and Jonathon smiled. "As for Elizabeth's safety, can you think of a better place for her to be right now? We're an armed starship, and everyone here is like a very large family."

Ambassador Soval looked at Jonathon, "Remember Captain, it was one of your crew members that smuggled out their DNA."

"Your right ambassador, and because of that we now have a beautiful little girl living on Enterprise."

The Ambassador stood now, "I see that you and the Tucker's have been preparing for the raising of Elizabeth, so I will be going. But Captain, if I can ever be of help, please contact me."

"Of course ambassador."

Jonathon held up his right hand in a Vulcan salute, "Live long and prosper ambassador."

Soval returned the salute. "And you as well Captain."

..
Tucker Family Cabin, 19:30 EST: The shuttle had set them down just under a hundred meters from the cabin, so Trip and T'Pol grabbed their bags and walked toward the cabin. When they walked up the three steps to the front porch, Trip saw a note on the door. It was a note from his uncle Mike.

" Trip, we cleaned up the place, and stocked the fridge. Your aunt Mary sent some of her soup, and some Rhubarb pie. You two have a good time, and call us if you need anything."

Trip smiled as he read the note, and he saw that T'Pol had walked to the railing that looked out over the lake. He thought, "God you look beautiful standing there."

T'Pol turned and looked at Trip, "Thank you."

Trip came up beside her, and they turned and looked out at the lake together. Trip took T'Pol's hand, and she didn't resist him at all. Trip quickly scooped her up in his arms, and T'Pol looked at him.

"What are you doing Trip?"

"Just an old earth custom, carry the bride across the threshold."

He opened the door, and carried her inside. While still holding her, he kissed her, and she kissed him back. Then Trip gently set her down, and went and grabbed their bags from the porch.

..
When he came back in, he set the bags down and closed the door. He then took T'Pol on a quick tour of the cabin, and the tour ended in the bedroom. They kissed again, and when they broke apart, T'Pol was a little breathless. Then she remembered what Hoshi had told her, and she asked Trip to get her bag for her. He was more than eager to, and was soon back with her bag. She took the bag from him, and walked into the bathroom, and closed the door. Trip looked around the room for all of a second, and then quickly went and pulled down the bed. He then just as quickly undressed and got into the bed.

..
In the bathroom, T'Pol set her bag on the countertop, and opened it. She found the box that Hoshi had said that she had put in her bag. She opened it, and found a very revealing light blue silk Camisole and G-string, and a small bottle of Jasmine scented perfume. For once, T'Pol allowed herself to smile, and she thought that she must thank Hoshi when they return to Enterprise. T'Pol changed into the garment, and placed some of the perfume in key area's. Now she opened the door, and stepped out slowly into the bedroom. She saw that Trip was already in the bed, and she started to walk toward him. She could feel his reaction to her appearance from across the room, and she felt herself reacting the same to Trip. As she neared the foot of the bed, she felt very warm and flushed, and she actually crawled onto the bed and up to Trip's side.

Huskily she spoke, "Do you approve Trip?"

Trip's only answer was to reach up and pull her down to him and kiss her. Their kiss became deeper and more passionate, and their tongues began to dance against each other. Their hand explored each other's body, and the Camisole and G-string disappeared in record time. As they worked on each other, they used their intimate knowledge of each other's body, and their passion's soared to new heights. Then they shared their intimate coupling, and for what seemed an eternity, there was no time, there was no Trip, there was no T'Pol, there was only their love for each other, they were one heart, one mind, one soul, one being.

..
Trip Tucker felt the warm breath on his chest, and he slowly opened his eyes. He saw her lying there, her head nestled against his chest, and her hand was lazily draped across his waist. He saw the first flickering of sunlight coming through the trees, and he realized that they had been at it all night long. For the first time in a long time, Trip felt he was home, and he knew that he wanted to keep this feeling for a very long time. As he lie there he felt her stirring, and then she lazily opened her eyes.

She looked up at him, "Good morning Trip."

As he looked into her eyes, they both felt a stirring, T'Pol looked at Trip, with just the briefest hint of a smile, "Your such an animal." and they started again.

..
Just before noon, T'Pol got up and proceeded to the bathroom. She removed her robe from her bag, and the device that Phlox had sent for her, and quickly read the instructions. She used the device, and she finished quickly. Now she placed the three small bottles together, and removed the communicator from her bag. She contacted the Enterprise, and Ensign Hoshi answered.

"Hello commander, how's everything going?"

T'Pol believed that she could hear the mischievous sound in Hoshi's voice. "It has gone exceedingly well Ensign. I have the coordinates that Dr. Phlox needs."

Hoshi felt a little disappointed, that the commander hadn't said anything, but she was going to be professional about this.

"Of course Commander. We'll beam them up right away."

"Thank you ensign, for everything."

T'Pol had stressed the word everything, and then closed her communicator. Hoshi heard her and she just started to smile.

"Your welcome T'Pol" she thought, and then she looked at Malcolm, "And thank you, for everything."

..
After a few moments, the bottles disappeared, and were replaced by three fresh bottles. T'Pol repacked the device and the new bottles, and left the bathroom. When she went into the bedroom, Trip was still asleep, and T'Pol realized how hungry she was. She went into the kitchen and began to look at the food in the refrigerator. She found a large container of what appeared to be some type of soup. She prepared two bowls of the soup and placed them in the warming unit. Then she found and prepared some tea for her and Trip. After a few minutes, the soup was ready, so she paced the food on a tray, and proceeded back to the bedroom. As she entered the room, she saw that Trip was just waking up, and she carefully placed the tray on the small dresser.

Trip smiled at her, "Mmmm, what smells so good?"

"It is the soup your aunt sent us."

T'Pol handed him a bowl of the soup, and then picked up the other bowl, and sat on the bed next to him. Trip was quickly eating the soup, but T'Pol seemed hesitant.

"What's wrong?"

"Well Trip, the food smells wonderful, but I am unsure if there is meat in here or not."

Trip smiled at her, "T'Pol, you and my aunt have at least one thing in common, you're both vegetarians. This is my aunts famous Vegetable gumbo, not a bit of meat in it."

T'Pol tried the gumbo, and found that it was indeed delicious.

..
"We should get the recipe from your aunt, perhaps the rest of the crew of Enterprise would like this as well."

Trip chuckled a little, and T'Pol just looked at him.

"What is so amusing Trip?"

He smiled at her, "I take it that Vulcan's don't have secret family recipe's."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my mom's been trying to get this recipe for years, but my aunt won't give it to her."

"I see."

They quickly finished the gumbo and the tea, and Trip put his arms around T'Pol, "So what would you like to do today?"

She looked at him, "Is this area truly private?"

"Yep, there's not a soul around for at least 30 kilometers."

Now T'Pol had a slightly mischievous look in her eyes, "I have heard of another Earth custom that I would like to try."

"And what would that be?"

She looked him in the eye, "Skinny-dipping."

Trip just started to smile, "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

"Only one?"

He kissed her lightly, "One of many."

She kissed him back, and soon all thoughts of the lake were gone from both of their minds.

..
At just about 5:00 pm they made it out to the lake, and Trip spread a blanket on the sand, and then they walked to the edge of the water.

"So what do we do first?" she asked.

"Well, it's real simple."

He turned her toward him, and gently pushed the straps of her bathing suit down.

"Trip, if you proceed, we may never reach the water."

"Trust me."

Soon he had her suit off, and he then removed his own. He took her hand, and then they walked into the lake. The water was cool, but refreshing. They swam for about 10 minutes, and then Trip swam up behind her. She felt his presence, and knew what he was thinking. They quickly made it to the blanket, and lay in each other's arms, and watched the sunset. They didn't really remember much of the sunset, as they were preoccupied with another activity, but as it was getting darker, they made their way back to the cabin.

..
The next morning, Trip was looking at T'Pol, "Honey, I want to ask ya something."

"What do you want Trip?"

"I want you to teach me Vulcan."

She looked at him, "It can be a very difficult language to learn Trip."

"I know, but I think that I should learn it, for Elizabeth."

T'Pol kissed him, "I knew there was a reason I loved you as well."

"Only one?"

"One of many." and she kissed him again.

..
They spent most of the rest of the week at the cabin, but they did make it into town once, and they picked up a few knick-knacks for their friends on the Enterprise. They also stopped by and met with Trip's Aunt and Uncle, and T'Pol thanked her for the food. She was even able to get the Gumbo recipe from her, on the condition that she not give the recipe to Trip's mom. T'Pol promised that she would keep the recipe a secret, and thanked her again. When they got back to the cabin, T'Pol made Trip swear to keep her secret, and Trip agreed. They spent the last night in the cabin in the bedroom, and they got very little sleep that last night there.

..
In the morning, they packed their bags, and proceeded to the rendezvous point. The shuttle set down, and Ensign Travis opened the hatch for them.

"Hello commanders, you two look rested." he said while smiling.

Trip just smiled at him, "Thanks Travis. Now would you mind getting us back to the ship."

"Of course sir."

The ride to the ship was over quickly, and when the shuttle was docked, they found that there were a lot of people waiting for them in the shuttle bay. Jonathon was the first to greet them and he shook Trip's hand and then T'Pol's "Welcome back, I hope you two had a good time."

T'Pol looked at him, "It was very refreshing Captain."

Jonathon didn't say anything, but he just looked at her. Then Trip's mom and dad came up and they had Elizabeth with them.

T'Pol looked at Kathy, "I hope that Elizabeth was not to much trouble for you."

Kathy handed Elizabeth to T'Pol, and smiled. "She's been missing you two something fierce, but other than that she's been a doll. If you ever need a baby sitter, you just call me."

"Thank you, we will."

Trip shook his dads hand, and whispered to him, "Thanks for everything dad."

Charley Tucker smiled, and then hugged his son, "My pleasure Trip."

Doctor Phlox came up and gently hugged T'Pol, and shook Trip's hand. "I hope that you two enjoyed yourselves."

Trip smiled, "We sure did doc, we sure did."

..
Then T'Pol saw Hoshi and Malcolm standing there. She also saw that the Lt had his hand resting on the small of her back, and that Hoshi seemed to like that it was there.

"Welcome back Commander."

"Thank you ensign, and thank you for the gift, we found it very stimulating."

Hoshi actually blushed a little, and then spoke to T'Pol in Vulcan, "Thank you for your precise aim with the bouquet, it has led to some rather interesting times between Malcolm and myself."

"I thought that it might Hoshi, do you need to borrow my gift back?"

"Oh no Commander, I have one just like it, except that it's bright red."

"I see, red is a good color for you."

Hoshi smiled, "It seems that Malcolm would agree with you on that."

Now Trip came up beside T'Pol, "Hey you two, no discussing the honeymoon in private."

T'Pol looked at Trip, "You don't need to worry, we weren't."

Malcolm shook Trip's hand, "Welcome back sir, If you're ready, we should take you to see your new quarters."

..
The group made their way to the officer's section of the crew area, and stopped in front of a door. Jonathon opened the door, and they went in. Trip and T'Pol looked around the room, the front room had a small closet area by the door, and there were three open doorways to the other area's.

"This is the front room, with a desk here, a small closet for storage, this doorway leads to your bedroom and bath. The other open door leads to your kitchenette and this door leads to Elizabeth's room. Oh, you'll need to put in your own locking codes, on the doors."

Trip and T'Pol looked around the room, and they both felt as if they had come home. Trip turned to Jonathon, "Captain, we want to thank you and everybody on the ship for this."

"There's no need to Trip, your family."

Now Jonathon looked at everyone else, "Why don't we give the Tucker's some time alone, and let them get settled in."

Everyone just nodded their heads and started to leave.

..
Soon Trip and T'Pol were in their bedroom, and T'Pol was cuddling Elizabeth next to her on the bed. "We missed you so much." and Elizabeth just cooed at her.

Trip looked at her and Elizabeth for a moment, and then started to smile. T'Pol looked at Trip and she knew what he was thinking, "Your right, she does deserve it."

Trip looked at her, "What?"

"She does deserve it. I was an only child, but you had a younger sister. I believe that Elizabeth would do well having a younger sibling."

Trip smiled at her, "Yeah, it will give her someone to talk to when she's mad at us. Especially when she's a teenager."

T'Pol picked up Elizabeth in put her in her crib.

"So how should we do this, should we talk to Dr. Phlox?"

"In the morning Trip, but before we do, let's try the old fashioned way first."

Trip smiled at her, "I was hoping you'd say that." and he dimmed the light.