Summary: Uhura figures it all out! Finally, right?
Finally, it has happened to me, right in front of my face
My feelings can't describe it
~Finally by CeCe Peniston~
To every thing, there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
From Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
About Time!
Uhura woke up to the steady pulsing sound of the sickbay monitors. She should be used to that sound by now since it was becoming the soundtrack of her life. The rhythmic thrum was oddly soothing after the hectic day she'd had. Movement next to her bed caused her to look over. "What happened to me?"
Doctor McCoy was standing by Uhura's bed monitoring her vital signs. He was relieved to see her eyes open. "Good, you're awake. I was starting to worry. You had a panic attack," McCoy told her.
"No." She shook her head in disbelief. "I've never had a panic attack in my life."
"Well, young lady, you had one today. It's not too surprising. I hear you were in the thick of things below decks?"
"Sure, but I've been in dangerous situations before and I didn't panic."
"I wouldn't worry about it. We all deal with stress in different ways at different times. You just so happen to be under more stress than usual." McCoy patted her hand, which was resting on her lap.
"No more stress than anybody else today. Except..." she sighed heavily. "Doctor, you see people die all the time. How do you deal with it?"
McCoy frowned. "It's never easy to see someone die. It sticks with you. Sometimes you think about it at odd times. I don't like to say the old cliche, time heals all wounds, but with time things hurt a lot less."
"I see. I guess seeing a patient die is a lot different from killing someone, isn't it?"
"I've done both. Life is life. You hate to see a life end even when it's necessary."
"But why must it be necessary?" She questioned.
"All living things must die, Lieutenant. That is a fact of life. To everything, there is a season. A time to be born, and a time to die. And speaking of which, I have some news for you. But maybe I should wait until Spock returns to tell you both?"
"Why should you wait for Spock? What does it have to do with him?"
McCoy smiled for the first time that day. "Well, this news concerns him too."
"Why can't you just tell me, Doctor? I can handle it. I promise not to panic." What could be so bad that he couldn't tell her? If he was trying to reassure her, he was doing a poor job.
"I have a diagnosis for you. All your symptoms finally make sense in context," he told her.
"Oh, thank god. What is it? What's wrong with me?" She eagerly asked.
"Well, think about it. Think about how and when all these symptoms started."
Uhura had a blank expression on her face, so he continued, "Think! All the symptoms started when you were married."
"I'm sorry doctor, I don't understand."
"To everything, there is a season..." He looked at Uhura expectantly, as if she should fill in the blanks. But Uhura was still clueless. What did he expect her to say? What the hell was wrong with her?
"A time to be born, and a time to die?" she repeated his words.
McCoy nodded and smiled. Finally, she got it!
"Oh my god, I'm dying!" Uhura cried.
McCoy had had enough of this foolishness. "No, you ninny. You're pregnant!" he shouted.
Uhura stopped mid-panic. "What?"
McCoy calmed down. He looked around the room, but the other patients were still sound asleep. Quietly he said, "I've run the tests twice and cross-referenced Vulcan medical data files. There's no doubt, you're definitely pregnant."
Uhura sat in stunned silence after hearing the news. "So I'm not dying?" she asked, just to be sure.
McCoy rolled his eyes heavenward. God help him. "No. You're pregnant. See," he showed her the chart with the test results.
Uhura shook her head. "No. That's not possible Doctor."
"Why not?"
"Because I would know if I was pregnant."
McCoy grinned. "Apparently not."
"It's just not possible," she said, tilting her chin up stubbornly.
"Why the hell not?" McCoy didn't understand this attitude of hers.
"You ought to know why it's not possible. You're the doctor. Or ask Spock, he'll tell you why it is just not possible!" Uhura said, ignoring the test results right in front of her face.
"Yes, I am the Doctor, and I am telling you what the results of your tests show. Positive. Now, do you mean to tell me you didn't have any inkling that this could be possible? No hunch what all those strange symptoms could mean before now?"
"Why would I think anything of it? Strange illnesses infect us all the time. Spock just had some strange virus," she reminded him.
"This is no virus, it's a baby. Didn't you have any clue? Missed periods? Female intuition?"
Uhura shook her head slowly, looking like a phaser had stunned her. "No, my cycle has always been erratic. I didn't think... maybe... but..."
"But what?"
"Well, I haven't been myself since I got back from Vulcan. I even did a pregnancy test back then, but it came back negative, so I forgot all about it."
"Hmm, when was that test done? I don't remember prescribing any tests for you back then."
"It was weeks and weeks ago now. A friend got a hypo test for me. I didn't want to bother you." She looked down at her hands in her lap, ashamed she has gone behind the doctor's back for medical advice.
"A friend, huh? And you're sure it was negative? You didn't misread it?"
"Are you sure you didn't misread my test today?" she asked hopefully.
"Positive. I've done more scans, and it's conclusive."
Uhura looked defeated. "Well, I was as sure as a person can be who is not a doctor. We double-checked it. Even Spock read it. Do you think it was faulty? Have I been pregnant all this time?"
"I don't know that. Maybe you weren't pregnant back then." McCoy said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Then when did this happen? How far along am I?"
"I don't know that either. I have to run some more tests. But I assume you and Spock been having, er... unprotected sex since you came back from Vulcan?"
Uhura was so tired of people prying into her personal affairs with Spock, and even though she knew this was a professional question, it still chaffed. "What do you think? We've been living together. Did you think we were knitting?" She snapped and then she apologized.
McCoy looked flummoxed, "No... I mean..."
"I'm sorry, Doctor McCoy. But you examined me that first time after the cave. You gave me the birth control suppressants yourself, you know that. I've taken them ever since. That's why this is impossible! What failed!" This was somebody's fault, Uhura thought. She needed somebody to blame, and the doctor was right there with his faulty birth control and pregnancy tests!
"Don't look at me. I didn't do this to you. You can thank that pointy-eared jackrabbit husband of yours. Speaking of, have you spoken to Spock about any of this?"
"Not yet obviously, I just found out myself."
"I mean, have the two of you discussed the possibility before? You are married and you said he knew about your last test? What were his thoughts?"
"No, we haven't talked about anything, especially not children." Uhura rubbed her temples, trying to think. There were so many things she and Spock had yet to discuss. She had meant to say so many things to Spock, but something always came up and distracted them.
"Actually, I'm surprised he doesn't know already. He knows everything else about me." She crossed her arms over her chest. "He told me my breast were bigger." How did they not guess? How was she going to have a baby? Everything else was pushed aside in the wake of this fresh development. "I just can't understand how this happened. This is the 23rd century, there should not be any oopsie!"
"As near as I can tell, Vulcans are very fertile during that Pon Farr of theirs, at least according to Sarek and the healers I've spoken to. According to them, it's damn near impossible to prevent conception during that Time. Suppressants don't work, they metabolize too quickly."
"And why am I only now hearing about this?" Uhura demanded.
"Honestly, I thought Sarek was wrong. What he described defies biology. Besides, when he told me it was already too late. You and Spock had already bonded. And I gave you two the most effective inhibitors we have. There is something about that fever that just burns it off too fast. I've learned Vulcans can control their metabolism and many bodily functions with mental controls. Under normal circumstances, they can control and time their fertility at their will, but when they are in Pon Farr they lose that control. The body's only purpose is to breed."
"So you think I've been pregnant since Vulcan and there was no way to prevent it? What about the negative test results and inconclusive scans? What about all the suppressants I've been taking? What was the point, Doctor?" Uhura demanded.
"Don't shoot me. I'm just the messenger. Besides, a doctor can only do so much, suppressants aren't 100 percent foolproof. You know you had a hand in this yourself too, Missy? Did you two ever think about other contraceptives such as barrier methods?"
"Barrier? What? Like condoms?" Uhura's eyes got wide, and she shook her head. "Doctor, where would we even get those things in a cave? And besides, during Pon Farr it's just not practical. You've seen how out of control we get," she snapped. "It probably wouldn't work on Spock anyway," she mumbled half to herself.
"And why is that?" McCoy wondered.
"Have you seen Spock's... Never mind, don't answer that. Just suffice it to say he'd probably break it. And don't ask me how," she snapped.
"Okay, okay, I will have to look at that for you. I mean, look into... You know what I mean. Everything about Vulcan physiology is so damn mysterious and that goes double for Spock. We only know the bare minimum to treat full-blooded Vulcans. A hybrid is an extra challenge. God only knows what challenges this pregnancy will present. Nothing about it is logical. Human tests came up negative. Vulcans and humans may look a lot alike and somehow nature has allowed us to interbreed with a little genetic intervention, but there are still not a lot of hybrids walking around."
Uhura lay back on the examination table and covered her eyes with her arm. The more Dr. McCoy talked, the more anxious she became. Would her baby be normal? "Why am I surprised by any of this? My life has been one long roller coaster ride since the day Spock dragged me off this ship to Vulcan."
"Lieutenant, I am not sure what to tell you, but I'm here for you if you need me."
"You've already said plenty, Doctor. I mean, this explains so many things, doesn't it?"
"Like what?"
"Like the food cravings and dizziness, being tired all the time, the weight gain, and maybe even the sleepless nights; but it doesn't explain everything."
"Everything? What other symptoms have you had? I want to record everything."
"Well... it's kinda hard to explain, even to my doctor. I guess I could ask Amanda. She would be the expert on this, but it's not something you want to ask your mother-in-law either."
"The expert on what?" McCoy's curiosity was piqued.
Uhura sat back up, "Ok, you're a professional and I suppose you need to know, so I am just going to give you the symptoms and you can sort it out."
"Fair enough," McCoy said.
"Well, I get anxious when Spock is away from me," she said and then gestured for him to come closer to her and she whispered, "and I get...uh...I am horny ALL the time," Uhura said in a low voice. There she'd said it and she sat back on the bed.
Doctor McCoy stood there, looking dumbfounded. Did she just say, "Oh.. Um...What!," He finally found the voice to say. "I mean ... What I meant to say was uh... er...What?" he asked again.
"You heard me Doctor; since getting back from Starbase 6 it has only gotten stronger. I want to be with Spock ALL the time. I think about him constantly. I want to be near him and when he is not near me, I get anxious. And when we are together, I just want to...to you know-"
"Alright, alright, Lieutenant, I get the idea. Well, now that isn't that unusual for newlyweds to be a little more amorous."
"Yeah, except we're not normal newlyweds, are we? And this just feels extra, even for newlyweds." She leaned forward and whispered again, "We have a LOT of sex. I'm almost 30 years old now, this can't be normal."
McCoy grinned. "Uhura, you're 30, not a hundred. You're just a baby in the grand scheme of things. Humans mature later and live longer than ever before in our history. It's probably just the normal phase of a highly fertile female."
"But I didn't even feel this way when I was a boy-crazy teenager and all I could think about was sex. Back then I noticed boys, all boys. Now all I think about is Spock, all the time. I've never felt anything like this before," she confessed. "It frightens me how much I need him."
"Well Uhura, you two are bonded in a way I cannot even begin to understand. And from a biological perspective, Spock is very young too. You could say he has only recently gone through Vulcan puberty. In fact, not too long ago he came to me with a similar complaint."
"He did? Could he be projecting those hormones onto me because of his Katra?"
"Possibly. Or it could be a side effect of the Vulcan pregnancy hormones I found in your system. This could be a normal Vulcan pregnancy symptom."
"But that sucks. Spock can control himself so much better than I can. I can't go for nine months feeling like this."
"Nine months, more or less. Vulcan gestation is longer than humans but we don't know the timeframe for you yet, nor do we even know how far along you are."
"More?! Nope," she shook her head vigorously. "I can't do this for over nine months. Doctor, my nipples are hard all the time. I constantly crave weird foods. I'm always tired and horny and angry, and now you tell me this could last more than nine months? I'm going to have to kill Spock!"
/*-/*-/
McCoy gave Uhura a clean bill of health for now. With so many injured patients taking up beds, he released her from the sickbay with strict orders to take it easy.
"Live long and prosper Doctor," Uhura said absent-mindedly as she left his office with a long list of do's and don'ts to follow until her next checkup.
"Yeah, live long and prosper," McCoy said to Uhura's retreating back.
Spock had corrupted her completely. He could not believe the conversation they just had, but he had to believe it. Uhura was pregnant with Spock's child. It was happening, and he had to deal with it for both their sakes. He had to come up with a plan to keep both Uhura and her unborn child safe and healthy.
To do that, there would need to be further tests, including DNA sequences and analysis. And he had some other questions that needed answering for Uhura's sake. He was in way over his head already and it was about time he got some answers from someone more experienced in Vulcan medicine. The best place to start was with Dr. M'Benga and he headed for his office.
/*-/*-/
Uhura left the sickbay in a daze and absentmindedly went back to her quarters. On autopilot, she undressed to take a shower. She thought that everything was in its place as she left it this morning, but everything was different; she was different.
It suddenly dawned on her that the Nyota Uhura that Spock carried off this ship and took to Vulcan so many weeks ago was long gone and never coming back. She was standing here in her quarters, but that Nyota had never returned. It was weird but Uhura felt that that girl, for all the missions, the near-death experiences, the contact with aliens and cultures that were mind-boggling, for all the adventures and horrors she endured, nothing was as sobering, as frightening, or as life-altering as being told you were going to be a mother.
She undressed and stepped into her shower and just stood there for a moment. OK Nyota, are you gonna laugh or cry she said to herself?
Who was she kidding, she was crying. As the shower water pelted her head, she cried fat salty tears and let her nose run, washed away by the hot water. She cried not because she was unhappy or disappointed, but because she was overwhelmed with emotion. This was too much, even for her. She'd had her entire mind-wiped and woke up not knowing who she was. She had faced down disrupter fire and shot someone, but she could not ever remember being as frightened as she was right now.
"It's not you, it's me," she said, patting her flat belly. She tried to imagine her stomach stretched big with a baby bump. There was never any doubt about having this child. This was happening, whether they were ready for it or not. But she totally wasn't ready!
With her allotment of water depleted, Uhura stepped out of her shower and slipped on one of her fluffy bath towels. She went to her vanity and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked exactly the same as she did this morning, but she felt like a different woman. She had faced down life and death all in one day. When she was a little girl, she used to look in a mirror and wonder who that girl on the other side of the looking glass was. And as a member of the Enterprise, she had the opportunity to actually visit the world on the other side. But that did not prepare her for this feeling of looking into the face of a pregnant Nyota while looking at herself.
She needed to talk to someone, but didn't know who? Her family was out of the question. She hadn't even told them about her marriage yet. She might talk to Amanda, but she didn't want to tell her anything before she spoke to Spock. She could confide in Charlene, but she was on duty, and again, it wouldn't be right to tell her anything without telling Spock. So she was alone with her secret for now. Well, this kind of thing didn't stay a secret for long, especially not on the Enterprise.
On autopilot, Uhura got dressed, put her hair up into a messy bun, made her face up, and then she left her cabin again, ignoring doctor's orders.
/*-/*-/
Once they beamed back aboard, Spock noted that the mood among the transporter personnel was somber and they avoided his gave.
"What is it?" he asked without preamble.
"Mr. Spock, I hate to be the one bearin' bad news to ye, but-"
"What is it, Mr. Scott?"
"Well, Lieutenant Uhura had a wee incident earlier, but she's uninjured."
"What kind of 'incident'?" Spock felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. But in the untrained eye, he was still as calm as ever.
"As to that, there are all kinds of rumors going around. I was on the bridge so I didn't see it. I heard they took Uhura to sickbay, but she's okay."
Spock felt annoyance at Scotty for his attempt to console him while providing minimal information. He maintained his composure long enough to say, "If you will excuse me, gentlemen?" And with that, he stormed out of the transporter room with Captain Kirk hot on his heels.
"Spock! Spock! Wait up?" Kirk said, catching up with him as he reached the lift. Spock waited impatiently for the lift and he felt Jim stop beside him.
"Where are you headed?"
"Sickbay."
"Good. Good. I'm sure it's nothing too serious. Scotty said she's okay."
"I will determine that for myself."
The turbo-lift doors opened and Spock hurried on, followed closely by the Captain. Different scenarios of what could have happened to his wife ran through his mind. What did Mr. Scott mean by a 'wee incident'? They said she wasn't injured, so what could it be? Spock had absolutely no facts on which to base a guess. He was in the dark, and it was a disconcerting feeling.
As soon as he entered the sickbay, Spock spotted McCoy, but he didn't see Nyota in any of the beds.
"Doctor McCoy, where is my wife?" Spock demanded.
"Now Spock, calm down. Uhura is fine-"
"Good. Where is she? I was told there was an 'incident'. I assumed she would be here in sickbay."
"She was, but I released her. Told her to get some rest while I run some tests."
"What kind of incident did she have? What is wrong with my wife?"
"I think I'll let her tell you herself. Hopefully, she's following doctor's orders and staying off her feet for a while."
"Can you tell me why she was brought into sickbay?"
"She just had a minor panic attack. As I said, I'm running some tests, but in the meantime I want her to rest and relax. Think you can keep calm and not upset her any further?" McCoy asked. He looked even more useless than usual to Spock's eye.
"Doctor-"
"Spock, don't argue further. Just go find your wife and see for yourself. And when you're ready, I'll have some questions for you both."
Spock wanted to argue further, but he didn't have time for this. If Nyota wasn't in sickbay, then his first priority was to find her. He stormed out, leaving the doctor and the captain behind.
"Bones, what was that all about?" Jim asked, noting the doctor's bemused expression.
"I can't tell you right now, Jim. I'm sure Spock will fill you in when he and Uhura are ready."
"You said you need to ask Spock some questions? About what?" Kirk asked.
"About that Vulcan marriage bond of theirs."
"Do you think the bond is the culprit in all this drama?"
"I can't answer that; not until I run some more tests. But even when I find out, I couldn't tell you, Jim. Doctor-patient confidentiality, remember?"
"I remember you only seem to use that privilege when it suits you. Bones, I'm the captain. If one of my crewmen is in trouble, I need to know."
"I don't believe Uhura is in any danger right now. If there's something that you need to know, something that affects the ship, I'll tell you. For now, it's a family matter."
Kirk didn't like the sounds of that. Family matter? Spock's family was somehow involved with the Orion raid, and now this. "You know what Bones?"
"What Jim?"
"I wish none of this had ever happened today. I wish I had known Spock was ambassador Sarek's son before it blindsided me. I wish I had known about Vulcans' mating habits and nipped it in the bud before it got out of hand. I wish I had stopped Spock from escaping the ship with Uhura. I wish-"
"Don't bother wishing Jim. It will only drive you mad. You can't foresee the future and even if you could, you know the rule, you can't stop what is meant to be."
"I guess. But if Uhura is in danger-"
"Then we'll deal with it. Just like we do with every other crisis on this ship. We'll cope. Uhura is tough and so is Spock. Honestly, from where I'm standing, it looks like those two are fated, or doomed to be together forever."
"Whatever. I better get back to the bridge and find out what's happened to my ship. That's one thing I know how to handle."
"I'll keep you posted on the injuries."
"You do that."
The captain left the sickbay and McCoy went back into his office. He had a sickbay full of injured crew to attend to and now he had a pregnant Uhura to worry about.
Everything was certainly changing rapidly. There was no going back to those innocent days of freedom for Spock and Nyota. They were moving on to the next phase of their adult lives together. Love. Marriage. Children. To everything, there is a season. It was the way life was meant to be, but it made McCoy feel incredibly old and alone.
Jim wished things could go back to the way they were before Spock absconded with Uhura, but you can't turn back the hands of time, and McCoy suspected Spock and Uhura would resent anyone who tried. They had something in the future to live for now. It was going to be up to Jim and himself to find their own something or someone to live for, and leave Spock and Uhura to their destiny.
I wrote these next few chapters so long ago they kinda make little sense to me anymore because the plot has changed so much since they were written. I'm in too deep now. I'm determined to finish this story no matter what. So please just go with the absurd idea that nobody figured this out.