A/N Still don't own anything. Thank you to ShanRQuinn, EroSlackerMicha and aria1210 for your reviews. I also wish to thank all of you who are reading. I really appreciate all your support.
Hoshi and Travis started on their excursion through the Alps. Most of the trip was in the valleys with the last leg a walking trip up a smaller mountain to the snow line. They carried two sleeping bags, a small tent just to cover them in case of rain, some changes of clothing and some Starfleet food rations. The first week passed, them spending the nights in the open with excellent weather. They discussed some of the other crew members and wondered how they were faring. They especially wondered about T'Pol, both agreeing how they would miss her, how she had become one of them. They both felt sorry for Trip and wondered what T'Pol had said to him. They had not seen him that morning and they figured he must have taken a later shuttle. They wondered if they should try to contact him or Malcolm when they got back. They tried to think what Captain Archer's project could be, both agreeing that it probably had something to do with an attempt to build an alliance. They talked about how the aliens they had met along the way had become real individuals. They especially talked about Shran. When they had visited Andoria doing their Shuttle Diplomacy, they had found that Shran and Jhamel were involved romantically.
At the start of the second week, they arrived at one of the four hostels along the route. They discussed whether they should stop. They really didn't want to be recognized and have to deal with getting congratulations and being asked questions about the Xindi mission. Not discussing it was the first rule they had agreed upon.
But the lure of a hot shower and a cooked meal made them decide it was worth the chance. As they entered the building, they were greeted by a hostess.
"Welcome to Hostel number one. What can we offer you?"
Travis spoke up, "A shower and a good meal."
"Will you be staying the night?"
Travis looked at Hoshi who nodded yes, having decided it would be nice to sleep in a real bed.
Travis continued, "Yes, we will."
"That will be twenty credits each."
Travis gave her a personal card, they had decided not to use their Starfleet ones.
After charging the card, she told them, "Supper will be at seven o'clock. Here are the numbers of your beds. The beds and showers are through that door. Lights out is at ten o'clock." She smiled at them, "The beds are next to each other but there will be no fooling around of any kind."
In spite of herself, Hoshi felt herself blushing slightly. Travis noticed, but gave no indication that he had; although it made him feel warm as well.
Hoshi and Travis passed through the door and found there was something about the hostel they had not anticipated. Apparently, privacy and modesty were not of any concern. There were perhaps thirty men and women in the room. When they went to the shower, they were au natural. It appeared after you showered, you were given a towel to dry off. Some were more modest on the way back, covering themselves with a towel, but most came back the way they had gone.
Hoshi looked at Travis who looked as stunned as she did. She was about to suggest they leave, when to her surprise, Travis looked for and found their beds. Hoshi followed after him.
As they put their bags on the beds, Hoshi decided what the hell and started to look around. She discovered there were a lot of attractive people in the room. She found herself feeling a little self-conscious about looking, then a little guilty. She also wondered if Travis was looking too.
She turned and seeing him also taking it all in, she asked, "What are we going to do?"
He smiled at her a little nervously, "I really would like to take a shower. Maybe we could not look when we go." He went on, "On the other hand, it's not like we haven't seen each other in our skivvies in decon."
Hoshi was about to say that wasn't quite the same, when she realized all the other women would be ogling him. If they were watching, she was too. She answered, "If this is how it works, I guess we should go along."
Travis looked at her inquisitively, then smiled, "I guess you're right. Shall we go together, or who should go first?"
As much as Hoshi wanted to see him nude as much as possible, she decided it was better if they went separately. There might be some temptation to help each other in the shower.
"I'll go first." Trying to be as nonchalant as possible, she started to take off her clothes. She noticed Travis turned his head as she did so. When she was naked, she headed off for the shower, resisting the urge to turn to see if he was watching. She did notice she was getting a good look over from the other men and a couple of the women. She had to admit it was a little flattering, after all, she had nothing to be ashamed of. Just as she reached the shower, she had to turn to enter and felt herself blushing when she saw that Travis was watching.
After the shower, when she had dried herself off, she wondered if she should wear the towel back. Suddenly, she knew she didn't want to, not only because it was wet, but she had to admit to herself, she wanted Travis to see her. Wrapping the towel around her hair, she took a deep breath and headed back. Apparently, Travis had decided that he was not going to disguise the fact he wanted to see her. She walked toward him, feeling warm but also excited.
Travis was surprised and a little shocked at what he was doing. He knew he should respect her privacy and not be looking, but he couldn't help himself. She was every bit as beautiful as he had ever imagined. He also realized she could have worn the towel back, if she didn't want him to see her.
As Hoshi neared the bed, he turned away and let her get dressed and start drying her hair before he turned back. Feeling a little awkward, he said, "Guess it's my turn."
Hoshi turned her back as he got undressed, but definitely watched him as he walked away. She had of course seen him in just a pair of shorts many times and had admired his build. But now she was seeing what she had only envisioned before. And it was definitely a very nice butt. She also noticed the looks he was getting from the other women, and felt a burst of pride that Travis was with her.
When Travis returned from his shower, she was both disappointed and relieved that he was wearing a towel around his waist. She didn't look as he got dressed.
Just then, the hostess came in the door and announced that dinner was ready. As everyone headed though a door on the opposite side of the room, Travis got close to her ear and whispered, "You are really beautiful."
Blushing, Hoshi looked down at first but then looked into his face, "So are you."
They went into the other room and found seats at one of two long tables. Then they got up and went through the food line. When they were reseated and started eating, the woman across from them said, "Pardon me, but you two are from Enterprise, aren't you? You're Hoshi Sato and Travis Mayweather."
Glancing resignedly at Travis, Hoshi answered, "Yes, we are."
The woman sitting next to the woman who had spoken, now spoke up, "Oh my God, it is such an honor to meet you." Digging through her bag, she continued, "Could I get your autographs?"
Hoshi sighed to herself and spoke up, "I'm sorry, it would be against Starfleet orders."
Continuing to go through her bag, the woman continued, "Oh, they won't know, just one little autograph." Hesitating she said, "It's for my daughter."
Hoshi was about to speak, when the woman who first addressed them, spoke up. "For goodness sake, Marsha, leave them alone. You don't even have a daughter."
Marsha glared at her, but put her bag down.
The woman continued, "Sorry about that, she usually isn't this way. I admit I am pretty awestruck too. My name is Sara Thompson and this is Marsha Willings."
Hoshi smiled and said, "No problem, glad to meet you."
Soon they were addressed by everyone at the table, offering their thanks for what they had done.
For the next hour, Hoshi and Travis wearily tried to answer the questions that everyone had for them, avoiding ones they did not want to deal with. To their amusement though, a lot of them were about Captain Archer.
Finally, they were able to complete their meal, and escaped outside to be alone for a while.
When they returned back to their beds, both realized the nudity was making them awkward with each other. Not sure exactly how to handle it, and not wanting to discuss it with others around, they said goodnight.
As the room went dark, each lay there with their own thoughts.
Hoshi was surprised that it bothered her so much. She was not a prude by any means, and under normal circumstance would not be that concerned showing herself when it was what everyone was doing. She knew it was because Travis was there. While in a way, she did not regret what she had done, it did make it more difficult to try to figure out where she and Travis stood. She was not ready for the degree of intimacy that it might be construed to mean. She of course had known for some time she was attracted to Travis and believed he was attracted to her. She also knew her feelings for him grew in many ways out of the mission. The recent events only complicated her attempt to sort everything out.
Travis chided himself. When he had gathered up the courage to ask Hoshi to join him, he was overjoyed to have her accept. He had been enamored of her for a long time. But their closeness in the Expanse had made him realize he loved her. But although he knew she cared for him, he could sense she was still confused about them. He had told himself not to push things; that he needed to give her the time and space to determine what she felt. Now he had probably blown that by first insisting they stay, and then not allowing herself any privacy from him. He knew it was absurd he thought that way because she was obviously being seen by the others, but he could not help but feel he had crossed a line she was not ready to have crossed.
The next morning, Hoshi and Travis stalled until everyone had left so as to hopefully avoid them on the trail. Both of them were quiet during the day, each wondering how to approach the other with what they were both thinking about.
That night, after having supper and getting ready to settle down for the night, Hoshi decided enough was enough. "Travis, we need to talk. This is getting ridiculous."
Travis managed to smile and said, "I agree." Then he continued, "I'm sorry, Hoshi, we should have left when you said."
Hoshi looked at him with exasperation, "Dammit, Travis, that's not the problem. We have to talk about what happened, how we saw each other naked. How we feel about it and what it means to our relationship."
"Are you sorry we did it? Are you ashamed of what happened?"
"Are you asking if I'm sorry I saw you naked?" She had to smirk, "You do have one hell of a butt."
He smiled back, "I'm afraid I can't feel too bad about seeing you either. You are really beautiful."
"Oh, God, Travis, how are we going to handle this? I am just not ready for anything intimate. I am afraid you will assume too much from what happened."
"I am not assuming anything. I just saw a beautiful woman that wasn't ashamed of her body. You can trust me to not take this anywhere you are not ready to go."
Hoshi put her hand on his shoulder, "You know I care about you. And God knows, I am attracted to you, but I also know that the Expanse drew us together. I need to know how much that and the fact that I am attracted to you affects how I really feel. I'm sorry I'm confused, but I just don't want to lead you on in any way."
Travis put his hand on hers. "Hoshi, don't you ever worry about that. I just love to be with you. This trip has been one of the happiest times of my life, to be able to spend this time with you. As long as you are still willing to keep trying, to keep exploring what we can have, I am willing to explore it with you."
Hoshi smiled and to both their surprise, gave Travis a quick kiss on the mouth. Then, Hoshi said, "We should get some sleep."
The rest of the hike went well. Each day seemed to bring them a little closer. Occasionally they would hold hands as they walked. They both agreed it was best to skip the rest of the hostels.
Finally, they reached the most strenuous part of the tour. Although it was not actual mountain climbing, it was a steadily increasingly uphill walk. Even though they were both in excellent condition, they were glad to reach the peak. From there the view was breathtaking. As they stood there together, Travis this time initiated a kiss which quickly became more passionate. As they broke away they put their foreheads together, both breathing heavily. Recovering her breath, Hoshi smiled, "Well, that was nice."
Travis smiled back, "It was."
The next day they reached the end of the tour and checked into the hotel where they had booked rooms in advance as a part of their plans.
They stayed there for two days and nights, enjoying the pool and eating in fine restaurants. The night before they left to visit their respective families, they made out in Travis's room. Although they both were sorely tempted, they realized they were not ready to have sex. When they broke apart, they prudently each slept in their own rooms.
The next day, at the airport, while their shuttles waited for them, they had a discreet goodbye kiss. Then promising to keep in contact until they met again back in San Francisco, they each boarded their shuttles, Travis bound for New York's Eastern Spaceport and Hoshi for Japan.
The cab pulled up to a house in Biloxi, Mississippi. Trip got out and despite the driver saying he wouldn't accept his money, Trip tossed it into the cab. He picked up his duffel bag and headed up the walk. His father and mother opened the door of the house and came out on the stoop to greet him. Trip walked up to them and embraced his mother.
"Mom, it's great to see you." He held out his hand to his father who shook it. "You, too, Dad."
His mother answered, "Good to see you too, Trip, has been a long time." Trip noticed she seemed pleased but also seemed subdued.
His father spoke up, "Yeah, great to see you, son. Did you have a good trip?" They moved through the door and entered the house.
Trip sat his bag down near the door and answered, "Yeah, Starfleet put us on VIP Shuttles, so I had a Shuttle to myself most of the trip." He looked around, "Nice place."
His father followed his eyes, "Well, it's not the house we had in Florida, but we've been comfortable here." He hesitated a moment and then said, "Thought T'Pol might be with you. Is she planning to come later?"
Trip answered in a way that conveyed that they were not together, "No, she won't be coming."
As she and Chuck exchanged glances, Brenda said, "Are you hungry, Trip, I could fix something."
"No, Mom, I had something on the Shuttle."
Gesturing to a chair, Chuck continued, "Well, have a seat. We have a lot to catch up on."
Trip sat down, looking a little uncomfortable, "If you guys don't mind, I was kind of hoping to just get away from Starfleet for a while. Would rather not talk about it."
Chuck quickly answered, "Sure, Trip, no problem, just glad to have you here."
Then Brenda, glancing at Chuck, spoke up, "Well, I am afraid I promised Mrs. Dailey that I would visit her today. Wasn't sure when you would be arriving. Trip, you don't mind if I leave for a couple of hours?"
"Of course not, Mom, don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Chuck smiled and pretending to be hurt said, "What am I, chopped liver? Go ahead Brenda, I'll keep Trip company."
Brenda got up and found her purse, waved goodbye and left.
Trip looked after her. "Is something wrong with Mom, she seems kind of down."
"You have to excuse her, she has never really been the same since your sister died." Sadly, "I guess none of us have but she just can't let it go. I moved us down here because it seemed that everything in Florida reminded her of what happened, but she has been just as miserable here. I probably made a mistake moving away from our friends."
"I'm sorry, Dad, I have had a long struggle with it myself."
Chuck looked uncomfortable and scratched his head, "I suppose I shouldn't say anything, but… I'm sorry to say this, but you certainly haven't helped."
Trip was stunned and hurt, but managed to say, "What'd I do?"
"Can you imagine how we felt when you went running off to Vulcan instead of coming home? Jeez, Trip, we had just lost a daughter and then it looked like we would lose you too. Then, when we heard you were okay and coming back to Earth, your Mother counted the days. It was the best I had seen her since Elizabeth died. When you told us you weren't planning to see us, she was crushed. I have to admit, I was angry myself."
Trip felt defensive and answered, "I'm sorry I hurt you and Mom, but you have to realize, I was in love with a Vulcan woman, we had been there for each other at probably the low point of my life. Now I had the chance to be with her, to meet her family. Can't you understand how important that was to me?"
"As a man, I can somewhat understand, but as a Father and husband, I just know you hurt us deeply. I can't believe you couldn't know how important it would be to us."
Bitterly, Trip went on, "Well, if it is any consolation to you, it did not work out very well."
Chuck answered angrily, "What, do you think we were happy that things did not turn out good for you? Do you think we wanted something bad to happen to you? We love you, Trip. I just wanted you to understand how we felt and explain how your mother is feeling."
Now feeling contrite, Trip continued, "I'm sorry, Dad, I know you only want the best for me. I guess I was just feeling guilty." He put his head in his hands, "How did everything get so screwed up?"
Chuck got up and put his hand on Trip's hair and stroked it gently, "I'm sorry too, son. I sometimes forget what you've been through. The important thing is, you're here now. Why don't you and I have a beer and talk about some good times?"
Trip looked up and managed a smile, "I'd like that." Trip stood up and his Dad put his arm around his shoulder and they head into the kitchen.
A couple of hours later, Brenda came through the door. She heard talking from the kitchen and went into the room. She saw Chuck and Trip at the table with several empty beer bottles around them.
Chuck looked up and saw her, "Well, look who's here. Come in Brenda, and have a seat. Trip was just telling me about the time he was pregnant."
Trip, seeing the look on his Mother's face, "Dad!"
Chuck smirked, "Well, you were."
Brenda said disapprovingly, 'You're drunk."
Chuck answered back, "I am not. I'm…tipsy."
Brenda, tried to be stern, "Trip, what am I going to do with you? I leave you two alone for a couple of hours and you get your Dad drunk."
"Me? No way. It was all Dad's idea."
Hiding a smile, Brenda sat down and said, "You were pregnant?"
Chuck spoke up, "Yep, that's what he told me. But don't worry, Mother, it wasn't his fault; he just stuck his hands in a bucket."
Trip stifled a chuckle, "It wasn't a bucket, it was a holographic representation and apparently that is how that species reproduced. She didn't intend for it to happen."
Brenda, trying to understand, "So it was a woman?"
Chuck now laughed, "What did you think, he was impregnated by a man?"
"How would I know? What happened to the baby?"
Trip answered, "When they realized what happened, the stopped the process."
Brenda looked shocked, "You had an abortion?"
"No, Mom. They transferred it to someone else, I was obviously not intended to carry a baby."
Chuck butted back in, "But he did have morning sickness. At least he should be more understanding when he has a baby himself." He stammered a little, "I mean when his wife does."
Trip started laughing while Brenda just shook her head, "I swear, it would be easier to take care of a couple of three-year-olds."
Chuck put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek, "But not as much fun."
Trip stopped laughing and reached out and hugged them both, "I love you guys."
Brenda answered quietly, "We love you too, Trip." Then she got up and signaled for them to leave. "Now you two go somewhere to sober up while I start supper."
They headed out to the living room and she heard the TV go on.
The next night, Trip offered to take them out to dinner. After they were seated and the waiter took their order, Trip snuck a look at his mother. "Do you guys remember when Lizzie was about three and we went to that fancy restaurant in Miami?"
His Mother gave him a startled look and started to say something but Trip hurried on. "I remember the food had just been delivered and she threw up all over everything. I didn't know that a little girl could produce that much gunk. I remember you two were shocked and concerned, but when you saw she was all right, I could see Dad was about to say something, when Lizzie looked up with that sweet little innocent face and said, 'Oops', I thought you two were going to die laughing."
Chuck looked at his wife, who seemed not sure how to react, smiled, "Yeah, that was one restaurant we never visited again."
Trip continued, not giving his Mom time to say anything, "Then you dragged us off to that exotic food restaurant because of its 'ambiance'. While you too were off checking out some of the sights in the restaurant, Lizzie and I put most of our food in her purse. After we got home, she put it way back in her closet. Didn't you guys almost have her room fumigated before you figured out where the smell was coming from?"
Brenda spoke hesitantly, but with a small smile, "Yes, but that time you two didn't get away scot-free. You each missed out on an event you wanted badly to attend."
"That's only because I was involved. If it had been just Lizzie, she would have charmed her way into going."
Chuck spoke up, "Are you saying we played favorites?"
"I'm saying she had you and Mom wrapped around her little finger."
Brenda started to tear up, "I miss her so much."
Trip quickly got up and crossed over to her and put his arms around her. "I do too, Mom, I do too." Then he started to cry which made her cry harder. They held each other as Chuck laid his hand on his wife's shoulder. After a while, they settled down, and Trip returned to his seat.
Brenda wiped her eyes, "Thank you, Trip."
Trip looked down at the table. "Dad told you how you felt when I went to Vulcan instead of coming home. I'm sorry I wasn't more considerate."
Brenda looked sternly at Chuck, "He shouldn't have said anything. You're a grown man. If it was important for you to be with her, you did the right thing."
"Thanks, Mom, but I'm still sorry I hurt you."
Brenda continued, "That's all water under the bridge. I'm just glad you are with us now. It's wonderful to have you home, even if just for a few days."
Trip reached over and put his hand over hers. Just then the food arrived. They all sat back and began to eat.
