Disclaimer: Before you ask, no, I do not own Star Trek. *crosses arms and pouts*
A/N: Reviews are like dreams; some are so good that you never want to wake up, others are so bad that you wake up screaming and ten feet away from your bed. Please, don't be the nightmare. Be the dream.
Origins: The Journey Begins
Chapter 9: One More Bite
STARDATE: 2236.17 (Sun, Jan 17th, 2236) [5 months, 20 days Pregnant]
Miotep rolled over in bed. It was 2:30 in the morning and the babies within her were demanding attention. She lazily rubbed her protruding abdomen in an effort to stop her unborn girls from doing somersaults.
The room was dark and Miotep could hear her husband snoring loudly beside her. Every couple of minutes Ahadi would inhale sharply, hold his breath, snort loudly, and then release his breath.
At first, when Miotep and Ahadi started sleeping together, Miotep would find herself moving to another room for a better night sleep. But as the years passed on she grew accustomed to her husband's loud snoring.
Yes, he was still loud. However, Miotep found his snoring pattern rather rhythmic. In most cases it put her to sleep.
Tonight, however, was a different story. All day Miotep had snacked upon small pieces of food; grapes, crackers, cheese, nuts and even ice cubes. But none of these things soothed her growling stomach.
For breakfast, she'd made herself a beetroot and orange sandwich. Lunch was mushroom and tomato pie and dinner was cooked pasta with pine nuts. Nothing she ate satisfied her growing babies for long.
Miotep rolled over onto her other side and stared at her sleeping husband. His long dark hair was draped across his face. Every time he exhaled Miotep could make out the tiny bits of hair flying from his lips.
Goodness me, I'm hungry. She thought to herself. I could really go for something… edible. Like… plomeek soup. Yeah, nice simple soup. I'll have it hot and steaming. I should check to see if we have any supplies left over.
With that thought, Miotep tried to get out of bed. She attempted a few sit ups but after several failed attempts she opted for rolling off the side of the bed. She flung herself too far and ended up on the floor, taking most of the bed sheets with her. Thankfully, the sheets softened her landing.
She managed to sit up on the floor and glance back at the bed to see if Ahadi was still sleeping. She heard a sharp intake of breath coming from her husband. Sleeping.
Good. Now all I need to do is extract myself from these binding sheets and head towards the downstairs pantry. It took Miotep 10 minutes to free her legs from the sheets and another 10 minutes to get to her feet.
Once on her feet she gave her snoring husband a quick glance before shuffling quietly out the door.
I better check the kids while I'm up. She thought as she stopped outside the room next to hers. She slowly opened the purple painted door until it was large enough for her (and her large abdomen) to squeeze through.
She crept towards the small bed. Her eyes were fixated on the floor, paying attention to where she stepped so she didn't tread on anything Nanenna had left out. She was halfway to the bed when she heard a small voice.
"Mama, what you doing?" Nanenna said from her bed.
"HOLY SH…ivers!" Miotep exclaimed as she pressed one hand to her chest and the other hand came down to cradle her belly. "'Nenna! What are you still doing up?!" Miotep said after she had calmed down. She looked back at the bed to find her daughter sitting cross-legged on her pink pillow, staring back at her intensely. She obviously hadn't been sleeping. It gave Miotep chills. My daughter's going to kill me.
"Just thinking," Nanenna replied as she began playing with her toes and avoiding her Mama's gaze.
"'Nenna, it's very early in the morning. You should be sleeping." Miotep said as she sat at the end of her daughter's small bed. It was low to the ground. Miotep wondered if she would be able to get back up.
"Not tired," Nanenna responded.
"What are you thinking about, sweetie?" Miotep asked as she stroked her daughter's small afro.
Nanenna looked at her Mama for the first time since she had entered the room. "Babies."
"What about the babies?" Miotep asked as she motioned for her daughter to sit next to her. Nanenna crawled across the bed and curled in close to her Mama. Miotep brought her arm around her to bring her in closer.
"They get hurt," Nanenna replied and looked up into her mama's dark eyes. "Hurt by 'Nahi and 'Hale."
"They won't get hurt by Denahi and Sehale. Baba and I will make sure of it." Miotep hugged her daughter.
"Me help?" Nanenna asked. Her eyes pleading.
"Of course. If you see the boys hurting the girls, you stand up to them. I don't want the boys to boss the girls just because they're older." Miotep gave her daughter one last hug and kiss before tucking her in. Once her daughter had closed her eyes she struggled to get to her feet. She got up and left the room closing the door behind her.
"What a funny girl," Miotep said quietly to herself as she approached the next room. She opened the door and walked inside. Her gaze didn't fall to the bed as she'd expected. Instead, her attention was caught by a small arm appearing out from under the bed.
She looked at the bed and noticed that the blue pillow and grey blanket were missing. Miotep sighed to herself. "Sehale."
She crossed the floor until she was standing in front of the arm that was protruding out from beneath the bed. Miotep used the bed in front of her to help herself get on the floor. Once she was on her knees she bent forward to peer under the bed.
There, sleeping on the blue pillow with a grey blanket wrapped around his small form, was Sehale. He was sound asleep and looked quite content. Miotep didn't know if this was a regular thing that her youngest son did but she knew it couldn't be good for his back.
Leaning down as far as she could, Miotep grabbed Sehale by his exposed wrist and pulled him out from beneath the bed. As she was pulling him, Sehale's head hit one of the wooden beams of the bed above.
Miotep paused as she waited for her son to wake up and start crying. It never came. Sehale didn't wake up. In fact, Miotep swore she heard him snoring quietly. "You're just like your father." She muttered as she dragged him out.
She finally got to her feet and looked down at her son who was sleeping at her feet. Now how am I going to get you from the floor to your bed without waking you?
An idea came to her mind.
She managed to bend over far enough to reach Sehale's hands. Once she had both of his hands firmly in her grasp she straightened up, bringing Sehale with her. If she wasn't trying to remain quiet, Miotep would've laughed loudly at the situation; she was standing in the middle of the room holding her youngest son up by his hands… while he was fast asleep.
She couldn't hold onto him for much longer. He was beginning to slip and she didn't want him falling to the floor. She did the first thing that came to her mind. She threw him onto the bed.
Miotep didn't know her own strength. Sehale actually landed on the mattress of the bed. However, as soon as Sehale hit the springy mattress he bounced off it and hit the wall the bed was up against.
His small body slumped back down to the mattress. Miotep covered her mouth in shocked. Oh, God, I just threw my son into a wall! She leant over his body and checked to see if he was breathing. She rolled his body over and was greeted with a loud snort. Yep, just like his father.
After establishing that her son was indeed still asleep she tucked him in and proceeded to check the next room, remarking "What a crazy boy" quietly to herself.
Upon entering the last room, she noticed that Denahi wasn't in his bed either. She chuckled to herself and walked closer to the bed.
She bent over as far as she could go to see if he, too, was sleeping under the bed.
She couldn't find him.
He wasn't in bed and he wasn't under it either. Darn it. Miotep had been subjected to her eldest child's weird habit of sleep walking before but she really didn't want to go looking for him now. She was hungry and she wanted plomeek soup. Besides, more often than not Denahi would find his way back to his bed before morning and not even realise that he had been walking around the house the entire night.
She descended down the stairs and hobbled her way into the kitchen. She turned on the kitchen light and squealed in fright. Her eldest son, Denahi, was sitting at the breakfast bar with a sandwich in his hands.
At the sound of his Mama's squeal, Denahi's head shot up in her direction.
With a hand over her heart and another wrapped protectively around her abdomen Miotep very cautiously made her way over to her son. Denahi, by this time, had paused mid-bite to watch his Mama come closer.
Miotep walked behind the breakfast bar and stood on the other side of Denahi. Denahi's gaze was still transfixed on her. Miotep waved a hand in front of his face to see if he was asleep or awake.
"What are you doing, Mama?" Denahi asked and Miotep jumped backwards in fright at the sound of her son's voice.
"What are you doing?!" She replied frantically.
Denahi's legs were still too short to reach the floor from where he sat on the stool. He swung his legs and looked at his sandwich before he met her gaze again and said, "I wanted to make a sandwich." His voice was small and innocent.
"Oh, well… ok. Um… You do realise it's the middle of the night?" She said. Maybe he was sleep… eating?
"I know. I wanted to know what salmon, cheese and avocado tasted like on a sandwich." He responded.
"Interesting. What's it like?" She asked now making her way to his side of the bar.
He held up a piece of his sandwich for her to try. She willingly took a bite. "That's really nice." She exclaimed in shock. My son is a master chef! She took another bite before handing him back the rest of the sandwich.
He continued to eat the rest of the sandwich while she made her way to the pantry. Upon realising that there were no plomeeks in the pantry she huffed. She walked back out of the pantry and stood in the kitchen with her hands on her hips.
"What's wrong, Mama?" Denahi asked in between licking his fingers.
"The babies want plomeek soup but we don't have any in the pantry." She replied.
"We have plomeeks in the field out the back," Denahi stated as he got down from the stool and brought his plate to the sink. "I can get some for you, Mama, if you want." He said as he washed his hands.
"No, honey, it's ok. It's very dark and dangerous outside this time of night." She paused. "I'll get your Baba to do it."
"Ok. Night night, Mama." Denahi said as he walked up to his Mama and gave her a big hug. "Night night, babies." He added as he gave Miotep's belly a quick kiss. Miotep walked him back to his room and tucked him into bed before heading back to her own room.
She could hear her husband snoring loudly as she entered the room. She smiled at how loudly he snored. How is it that I can sleep through that? She let her mind wander over some other noises that she had heard her husband make.
She blushed when she thought about the other night. Then she gasped. Oh God, Nanenna would have been awake! And if she wasn't awake she would've been woken by the noises coming from Ahadi's mouth. She blushed even harder.
She sat down on her side of the bed and nudged her husband. "Ahadi." She whispered.
He snorted. She waited until he released his breath before she tried again. "Ahadi."
Still no response. She hit him quite hard in the ribs. "Ahadi!"
Ahadi sat up straight as if he'd had a wave of electricity run through his body. "Wha? What is it?" He sputtered out. He looked at his wife and noticed she wasn't under the covers. His mind raced. It was far too early for delivery, but it was known to happen, especially with twins.
"Is it time?" He asked quickly as he crawled over to her side of the bed and held her hands in his.
"What? No." She replied as she took her hands out from his grasp. "We have no plomeeks in the pantry."
"And that's… Bad?" Ahadi questioned as he rubbed his face with his right hand.
"Yes. The babies want plomeek soup and we don't have any plomeeks in the pantry."
Ahadi rubbed his face with both his hands, inhaled a deep breath, exhaled then responded, "Would you like me to go and pick some plomeeks from the field?"
"Yes, please. That would be excellent. Thank you, Wapenzi (Beloved)." Miotep replied then leant in to give him a quick peck on the lips.
Ahadi stumbled out of bed and headed downstairs. It was a hot dry night so Ahadi didn't bother putting a shirt on. He just continued to walk down the hall in nothing but his boxers. Miotep ogled him from the bedroom door as he walked down the hall. He came to the back door and turned on the outside light before continuing his journey to the plomeek field.
As he passed the other vegetables he had planted he reminisced on the day he was given the unique Vulcan vegetable.
STARDATE: 2219.354 (Mon, Dec 20th, 2219)
It had been almost a year since Ahadi and the rest of the crew arrived on Vulcan for the peace treaty and it was finally time to leave. Ahadi had been a quick learner and had grown accustomed to the bizarre customs of Vulcan.
Ever since saving young Sybok from the fall ten months previously, Sarek and Ahadi became more acquainted with each other.
Ahadi loved the atmosphere on Vulcan as it reminded him of the hotter days in Africa. Although the gravity was far less on Earth.
R'Va had taught Ahadi how to speak the foundational words of High Vulkhansu, a dialect of the Vulcan language that only High Vulcan Clans have mastered. R'Va being from the High Clan of R'Nyah was fluent in the dialect.
Ahadi had spent most of his days at the Early Learning Centre for Vulcans. The young Vulcans found it amusing that a human wanted to test his Vulcan knowledge. Ahadi even tried to beat the young Vulcans to the answers. Unfortunately, though the Vulcans were young in age, they still managed to beat him.
Ahadi had packed the last of his things and was on his way to the shuttle bay when he was stopped by the Ambassador.
"Ambassador Sarek." Ahadi acknowledged as he placed his bags on the dry ground by his feet.
"Alishuka Mkuu Uhura," Sarek responded in kind.
Ahadi bowed his head slightly out of respect before he started to speak, "To what do I owe the pleasure, Ambassador?"
"It has come to my attention that in many regions of Earth it is considered polite to farewell a friend with a token from that land," Sarek stated, looking at Ahadi with a stern gaze, silently asking him if this tradition was, in fact, true.
"Yes, that is true," Ahadi answered and tried not to smile at Sarek's obvious attempt at human customs.
"From your time spent here on Vulcan, it has been made clear to me that you are quite fond of plomeek soup." The Ambassador continued.
"That is also true." Ahadi was now visibly smiling.
The Ambassador's hand appeared from a small pocket within his robe holding a small wooden box. Ahadi opened the box and saw that it contained small, long, purple-grey seeds. Ahadi's head rose to meet the face of the Ambassador.
"Plomeek seeds." Sarek informed his newest acquaintance, "As I have studied your home planet I have come to realise that the elemental conditions in Africa are not that dissimilar to the climate we have here on Vulcan. If I am correct these seeds will flourish when planted in fresh African soil and watered once every four weeks."
"Thank you, Ambassador Sarek," Ahadi responded while he carefully packaged the wooden box in the front compartment of his carry-on luggage.
Ahadi rose to his full height and raised his right hand in the Vulcan Salute. "Dif tor heh smusma (Live Long and Prosper)," Ahadi spoke in his flawless Vulcan.
"Sochya eh dif (Peace and Long Life)." The Ambassador replied as he raised his hand in a similar manner.
…Present Time…
Ahadi had picked enough plomeeks to make a substantial amount of soup. He entered the house again and stopped off at the kitchen to make his wife the soup. It didn't take very long considering that there wasn't many herbs or spices that needed to be added to the mix.
He returned to the room with a large wooden tray in his hands. On the tray was the plomeek soup in a traditional Vulcan bowl, a glass of water and a couple of napkins.
Miotep was at the window looking out when he arrived back.
"Mio, what are you doing?" He asked as he placed the tray down on her bedside table, accidentally knocking the books off as he did.
"I was watching you." She replied sheepishly.
"You were watching me?" He asked, almost unconvinced.
"Mm-hm." She hummed in return as she made her way around the bed to the tray on her bedside table. She grabbed the bowl and sat down on her side of the bed. She made a strange noise as she took a couple of mouthfuls. Ahadi figured it was a sign of approval, seeing as she had almost finished the soup.
"Just out of curiosity, why were you watching me?" He asked as he sat on the bed behind her and started the massage her shoulders. She stopped shovelling the soup in her mouth to groan loudly in approval.
"Because you look sexy when you're pulling plomeeks from the ground. No shirt… muscles flexing." She spoke seductively as she placed her empty bowl back on the tray. She quickly sculled her water and returned the glass to the tray before turning to face her husband. Her eyes silently begging him for attention.
"Oh no, don't give me that look." He said as he back away slowly.
"What look?" She smiled as she followed him. He was getting closer to the edge of the bed.
"That look. I know that look. You've been fed. You're happy." He smiled as she climbed up into his lap and rested her hands on his slightly hairy chest. She curled his chest hair around one of her fingers and pulled lightly. He audibly groaned.
"Happy but not satisfied."
