Thanks for the reviews!

Bewildered: loooool, don't give them bad ideas, his parents will probably get heart attacks!

Jamille Shane: I'm happy to hear this story has some thrilling moments. :)

IrishBug74: Thanks!

Loretta Jean: Cool to hear the story is gripping. :) I also love to read a story through to the end in one go if that's possible.

Chapter 21 - Introductions

Two hours later Irina moved her comm unit over to the couch and sat down. Soltek was waiting in his quarters while she would first talk to her parents alone. She had warned him that her parents had nearly no experiences with non-humans and might have some concerns and questions about her being involved with a Vulcan... She drew a calming breath and opened a channel to them. Her mother appeared on the screen after a few seconds.

'Hi mum!' Irina greeted.

'Hi honey!' her mum greeted back, 'is there any problem with tomorrow?'

'No,' Irina answered, 'everything's fine...there's just something important I want to tell you and dad...'

Her mother's face became serious and she said, 'I'll fetch him.'

After a few moments of waiting Irina heard approaching footsteps over the comm and her mother returned with her father in tow.

'Hi honey,' her father greeted, he looked slightly tired and his voice sounded like he expected bad news.

'Hi dad,' she replied and found it difficult to remember the wording she had put together for the last two hours.

'Um,' she began, 'since I've come to this station...I've got to know somebody...I want to introduce him to you...' she stuttered.

The face of her mother brightened, 'oh, honey, that's wonderful!'

Her dad looked surprised, then said, 'that's good news, Irina, and I'm sorry I can't make it to your station tomorrow, but I'd like to get to know this young man nevertheless.'

'You will in a few minutes,' Irina said, 'he's waiting to introduce himself to you, I'll call him in a few minutes, but there's something I want to tell you beforehand...so you won't be too surprised when you see him,' she smiled nervously while searching for words. Her mother's eyes went wide while her father frowned. Just when Irina wanted to go on she heard muffled giggling in the background. Her parents turned around and she heard Olga mumble 'oh, sorry,' and footsteps leaving the room followed by loud laughter and then the swoosh of a closing door.

Irina sighed, 'doesn't she have her own home now?'

'She was helping with the attic,' her mother said.

'You were just about to tell us something about your new boyfriend,' her father said sternly.

'Yes, um,' Irina replied, 'you know that many people in Starfleet aren't human...' She paused because she saw how her father's face fell slightly while her mother looked concentrated in anticipation.

'So...what is he?' her father asked frowning.

'He's from Vulcan,' Irina answered curtly.

Her father frowned again, her mother looked confused.

'Honey,' her mother said slightly concerned, 'didn't you hate them when you were on the Asteria all those years?'

'Yes,' Irina replied, 'but I've got to know Soltek very well...and things aren't the same as on the Asteria.'

'Vulcans are the ones with the pointed ears?' her father asked still frowning.

'Yes,' Irina replied curtly suppressing a smug comment about her father's limited knowledge of alien cultures.

'Aren't those pretty cold-blooded and only interested in science?' he asked confused.

'Well dad,' she answered keeping her exasperation in check, 'they don't show their feelings in public like humans do, but they have feelings, it's just a different behavioral code.'

'Hmm...' her dad answered giving it some thought, but his look remained skeptical. 'What is this Vulcan doing for a job?' he asked.

'Soltek's an engineer in Starfleet and he has the same rank as me,' Irina answered.

'Hmm, an engineer...' her dad said with a hint of approval.

'He works in holo programming on the same astrometrics project as myself, that's how we met,' she said.

That seemed to satisfy him for the moment.

'Irina,' her mother said, 'as long as you are happy with him, you'll have our full support no matter what planet he is from.'

'Thanks, I know,' Irina said not fully trusting the peace yet, but it was a start. 'I just thought I'd warn you before you get a shock when I suddenly appear with an alien on the screen...you know there are some things a bit different about him one has to get used to,' she added carefully.

'I think it is important that you explain us those differences,' her father said, 'because any parent would be concerned about their daughter dating someone from another species...I don't mean to discriminate anyone, but it's not a secret that some species don't fit together very well.'

'Of course,' Irina said, 'but there's no need to be concerned, there have been some human-Vulcan couples before.'

'Can you tell us something about what he's like?' her mother asked.

Irina smiled, 'he's quite curious and open-minded, but you know that Vulcans are very private about their feelings, so...when you talk to him please don't be surprised when he doesn't smile at you and please don't ask him questions which are too personal, he won't talk about his feelings.'

'Okay,' his mother said frowning,'don't you worry about us...will I also meet him tomorrow?'

'Yes, of course,' Irina said, 'um, and mum, please don't hug him or shake his hand tomorrow, Vulcans don't do this.'

'I'll try to remember,' she said, 'you just speak out, if there's a misunderstanding, yes? You know I'm not used to aliens.'

'Yes, mum, of course,' Irina said with a glad smile.

'Do you also teach him human customs?' her father asked.

'He knows human customs, dad,' Irina said slightly annoyed, 'he went to Starfleet Academy.'

'Didn't he learn a handshake there?' her father said skeptical.

'He did,' Irina replied, 'but Vulcans don't like it, they are touch-telepaths.'

'What does that mean?' her mother asked confused.

'If you shake his hand, he can read your mind,' Irina said in the hope that would settle the handshake-argument.

They both looked shocked and then turned to look at each other.

'Does that mean he can't read my mind as long as I don't touch him in any way?' her mother asked clearly uncomfortable about the whole thing.

'Yes, that's roughly how it works,' Irina said regretting she had started the subject at all, 'please don't worry about this, mum, he doesn't even want to read your mind...I just told you this so you would understand why he doesn't like handshakes.'

'It's okay, sweetie,' her mother said, 'I don't mind if he doesn't want to shake my hand...you know, the Chinese don't shake hands either, it's no problem.'

'I'm glad you understand, mum,' Irina replied patiently.

'Do they do some kind of bow when they greet each other?' her mother asked.

'No, mum, they have a hand gesture, but you don't have to learn it, just say hi without doing anything,' Irina said wanting to get this over with.

'Okay,' her mother said.

'You said, he wants to introduce himself to us?' her father reminded her.

'Yeah, I'll call him now and he'll be there in a minute,' she said and tapped her comm badge.

'Mum, dad,' Irina said when Soltek had sat next to her on the couch, 'this is Soltek – Soltek, that's my mum and my dad.'

'Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Paranov,' Soltek said, 'I'm honored to make your acquaintance.'

Irina smiled glad he didn't launch into a large speech.

'Hello,' they greeted back. 'Please call us Lina and Juri,' her mother added smiling.

'I'm honored, Lina and Juri,' Soltek replied politely.

Irina linked her arm with his, but avoided skin contact.

'Irina tells us you work as an engineer?' her father asked.

'That is correct,' Soltek replied and explained what he was doing which turned into a lengthly technical conversation with her father, who in turn went on and on about details of his ore refinery.

Irina and her mother looked at each other glad that the men seemed to get along, but slightly bored. Then Soltek started to ask her mother about her terraforming work and they all seemed to be at ease chatting about what they do.

Irina didn't want to head towards the difficult topic, but couldn't wait any longer, because she wanted to get it over with.

'Um, mum, dad, there's some problem we need to discuss,' Irina said and immediately got their full attention.

'Soltek's parents don't have much experience with humans and they might call you,' Irina said.

'Sure,' her mother answered, 'I'd be happy to get to know your parents,' she said turning to Soltek with a warm smile.

'Unfortunately they might be not very forthcoming to you,' Soltek said, 'my parents will likely disapprove of...the relationship between your daughter and me.'

'Oh,' her mother said slightly shocked and her father frowned.

'Um...you see...,' Irina said, 'in the more traditional families on Vulcan people don't just choose partners for themselves because the parents or clan heads arrange things...so his parents might be pissed that...we took matters in our own hands without their blessing.'

Now Irina's parents looked at them in disbelief.

'Honey, what are you saying?' her mother asked flabbergasted.

'Soltek's parents or his clan head might call you to ask some questions about me...and they might be quite skeptical about me and you and the whole thing,' Irina explained.

'Relax Irina,' her father said, 'don't you trust us? We didn't go to Starfleet Academy, but we're smart enough to talk to some Vulcans.'

'That's not the question, dad, I simply had to warn you about them so you know what to expect...,' Irina started to explain.

'Soltek,' her mother interjected, 'are you alright?'

At that Irina turned to Soltek and saw that he was blushing violently.

'I am alright...Lina, thank you for your concern,' he mumbled.

'Are you sure? You look totally green! You better lie down!' her mother said.

'Mum, his blood is green!' Irina said slightly annoyed.

'Oh,' his mother said, 'you're right, but don't snap at me like that,' then she turned back to Soltek, 'so...if your blood is green...that means you're just blushing?'

'Mum, please let's get back to the topic,' Irina said sharply.

'Irina,' her father said, 'I don't understand why you are so worked up about this, what could his parents do if they don't like you?'

'I just wanted to warn you about them so you won't be caught off guard when they call you and ask questions,' Irina continued her explanation, 'and it's very possible that they are against our relationship and will break contact with Soltek and disinherit him, because his clan head has done so previously with his aunt for marrying a Romulan.'

Their eyes widened as the message finally sank in.

'Oh, I'm so sorry,' Irina's mother said to Soltek.

'But honey,' her father said, 'we're not Romulans, we're as much citizens of the Federation as any Vulcans.'

'I hope that's a mitigating factor, dad,' she said, 'but don't count on it.'

'How can we help?' her mother asked.

'I'd be very happy if you can just try to be diplomatic when they should call you and answer their questions, but remain as calm as possible regardless of what they say,' Irina asked them politely, 'they might have some prejudices about humans and think that we are overly emotional and I'd be very thankful if you would just act as coolly as possible.'

'Don't worry, honey,' her mother said.

Her dad chuckled, 'relax, Irina, we'll put up our best poker faces.'

Irina smiled, 'that's exactly what I was hoping for, you're wonderful!'

'I'm very grateful, Juri and Lina,' Soltek said still blushing, 'I sincerely hope this matter is not too much of an inconvenience to you.'

'No, not at all!' her mother said, 'and I look forward to see you two tomorrow!'

After they had said their good-byes Irina turned to Soltek, 'thanks goodness, that went well! I'm sure they like you!' She gave him a short kiss on the mouth and leaned her forehead against his.

He put his arms around her and said I a soft voice, 'I'm also pleased that they have accepted me.'

'Now we only have to call your parents,' she sighed.