Disclaimer: I don't own it, I don't make profits, I only make plots. *malicious laughter*

Three chapters to go.

A/N: Reviews are like the recycling plant; constructive criticism goes in, much better things come out. Please, be constructive with your reviews.

Italics means 'baby talk.'

Origins: The Journey Begins

Chapter 27: One More Time

STARDATE: 2236.74 (Wed, March 15th, 2237) [10 Months, 15 Days old]

It was afternoon at the Uhura residence. After coming home from school Denahi and Sehale changed into their old clothes that they usually wore outside. They raced down the stairs with smiles and laughter before escaping the large house for the wide desert just out the back of their home.

Nanenna having returned from pre-school an hour earlier than the boys was fed rice crackers and cheese before being put down for a nap. She had a short swimming lesson today which made it easier for Miotep. There was no struggling, no distractions, and no delays. There was the odd remark about animals drinking the water they swam in, but it wasn't long before her breathing evened out into the steady rhythm of sleep.

With the boys playing together out the back and Nanenna sleeping upstairs Miotep thought it would be good to get a head start on the twin's first words. They hadn't said anything prominent yet, only the coos and babbles and unusual sound effects.

Miotep and Ahadi were in competition with each other. It all started with the first born. As soon as 'Mama' left Denahi's lips Miotep smirked at her husband. Ahadi left the room with payback on his mind.

When Sehale came along Miotep was surprised when he babbled 'Baba' first. Ahadi smirked at his wife, triumph plastered on his face. The game was on.

Now, years down the track, Miotep sat on the floor before her twin girls. The girls were sitting on the sofa in front of her smiling. They had woken up fresh from their nap not long ago and were changed and fed, ready for a consisted round of 'Mama'.

Miotep already had Denahi and Nanenna, but she knew that if one twin spoke then the other was sure to follow soon after. If Ahadi returned from work and managed to get one of them to say 'Baba', the other would certainly copy, and there goes her title as 'Best-Loved-Parent'. She was not going to have any more children. It was all down to the twins.

"Can you say 'Mama'?" Miotep said in a high-pitched childish voice, her animated face complementing her tone.

Zantiri stared at her Mama before bursting into a fit of giggles. She almost lost her balance and fell forward. Nyota just stared intently at her. She knew something was wrong with her Mama. She doesn't normally sound like that.

Miotep tried again, "Say, 'Mama.'"

Zantiri giggled and babbled, but no words that had come out of her mouth sounded like 'Mama'. Nyota continued to stare at her Mama.

Miotep, realising that Zantiri was the more likely candidate to speak, directed her speech towards her. "Zanny, can you say 'Mama'?"

Zantiri babbled even louder, this time, Nyota looked at her twin in confusion. Nyota babbled something quietly to her twin. Miotep couldn't understand what either of her twins were saying but Zantiri and Nyota conversed with ease.

What are you doing? Nyota babbled to her sister.

Mama's funny. Zantiri looked at Nyota as she babbled in reply.

No. Mama's sick. She doesn't sound like that. Nyota stated in baby talk. Miotep just watched her youngest girls talking.

She doesn't look sick. Zantiri became concerned. When we were sick Mama placed her hands on our heads. We should do this to her to make her feel better.

Nyota babbled in approval and soon the twins had their hands sprawled across their Mama's face. Miotep laughed and grabbed for their hands blowing raspberries on them. The twins squealed in delight.

Okay. Mama isn't sick. Just playful. Nyota informed her sister before leaping off of the sofa onto Mama.

Miotep caught Nyota and balanced herself once again before being bombarded by Zantiri.

Upon his arrival home, Ahadi heard the delighted giggles coming from the lounge room. Oh, no. She's won. She got them to speak. Ahadi dropped his bag onto the counter top and darted towards the sound of the giggles.

"What's going on here?" Ahadi asked as he saw his twins sitting triumphantly on top of his wife. They had their hands in their laps and their feet placed on the floor. They seemed to be bopping on Miotep's tummy.

"I've been bombarded!" Came Miotep's laughter from underneath the twins.

"Have they said 'Mama'?" Ahadi asked as he picked up Zantiri and tossed her in the air slightly before placing her on the couch. He copied his actions with Nyota.

Miotep thought about teasing him by saying that they both had said 'Mama', but she couldn't bring herself to say it. That would go too far. She wasn't that cruel.

"No, they haven't. Not yet, anyway. They're babbling heaps now, it's only a matter of time." She said honestly. "What's the time?"

Ahadi flicked his wrist before looking at his golden watch. "4:35."

"Ashantis will be here soon. Lewis proposed to her the day he moved to Kenya. He's back in Australia at the moment getting the last of his stuff. I just want to see the ring he got her." Miotep smiled broadly at her husband.

Ahadi loved his wife's smile. It made his knees go weak and his heartbeat rise. "Where are the boys?" He asked before the silence between them became too awkward.

"Outside," Miotep said, never taking her eyes of the twins. She was making funny faces between sentences. Then she had an idea. "If you can cook Plomeek soup for dinner, Ashantis and I can make spicy bread as a side dish."

Ahadi loved Miotep's homemade spicy bread, and so did the kids. "Deal." He said quickly before rushing out of the lounge room to the open field out the back. He will get the boys to help him pick plomeeks for dinner.

Miotep was about to go back to talking with the twins when she heard a knock at the door. By the time she jumped up and ran for the door, Ashantis was already making her way inside.

Ashantis didn't even have time to look around before being captured in a bone crushing hug. Sometimes Miotep didn't know her own strength. Miotep let go of her younger sister and waited patiently.

Ashantis rubbed her right shoulder with her left hand. Miotep jumped forward again to inspect the ring on her sister's finger. After a couple of minutes chatting rapidly in a mixture of Swahili, standard and sign Miotep guided her sister to the living room where the twins were still sitting on the couch.

Miotep knelt before the twins again and turned to her sister. Using her hands Miotep informed her deaf sister that the twins still hadn't spoken and that she was trying to get them to say 'Mama' before they say 'Baba'.

Although Miotep didn't utter a word, Ashantis laughed loudly at what Miotep had signed to her. Ashantis replied in kind; not speaking, just signing. She stated that being the sister of the mother it was her job to help her. She knelt down next to Miotep, and although her speech wasn't the clearest, she still helped out.

Ahadi returned from the field with Sehale and Denahi in tow, each of them carrying an armload of plomeeks. Ahadi entered the living room to find Miotep and Ashantis before the twins saying the word 'Mama' over and over.

"I should have known," Ahadi said with a smile. "Of course it was a distraction."

Ashantis didn't hear Ahadi from behind her, but she did turn in his direction after noticing her sister's slight change in body language.

"Hi Ahadi." She smiled.

Ahadi smiled back before saying, "Your sister deceived me." He said to Ashantis whilst pointing at his wife. Miotep just smiled widely. She may have looked pretty but she radiated evilness.

Denahi and Sehale came running into the room after placing the plomeeks on the counter in the kitchen. The boys exclaimed loudly their pleasure in seeing their Aunty before rushing over to her and enveloping her in a mighty hug.

Moments later another small exclamation came from the doorway. "Aunty Ash!" Nanenna's sleepy form managed to shout even though her voice was still croaky from her nap.

"What are you doing on the floor?" Nanenna asked seriously as she came in to give her favourite Aunty a hug.

"I'm talking to the twins," Ashantis replied.

"But the twins don't talk yet, Aunty Ash," Denahi said softly as he tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"She knows that, but the twins are old enough to say simple words like 'Mama'." Miotep said and leant forward towards the twins on the sofa repeating the word 'Mama' as often as she could.

"We're hoping they would say their first word today," Ahadi said from his spot. He was leaning up against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"My first word was 'Monster Truck'," Sehale said with confidence as he casually leant up against his Aunty.

"Sehale, your first word was 'Baba'." Miotep laughed softly. "I remember it very clearly."

Miotep picked herself up off of the floor and sat on the sofa lifting up Zantiri and placing her on her lap, bringing Nyota close to her side.

Denahi grabbed a cushion from a nearby couch and placed it on the floor where Miotep had been kneeling. He knew his Mama was going to tell a story.

"Sehale was about the twins age." Miotep began. Sehale ran and grabbed a cushion and sat down next to his brother. Nanenna placed herself in Ashantis' lap and Ahadi left to make a start on dinner.

"Denahi was already in bed. I was lying on the couch with Sehale on my chest. Baba had to work late that night but came home in time to say goodnight to Sehale before he went to sleep." Miotep adjusted Zantiri on her lap. Zantiri wanted to grab at Miotep's lips but her small hands were gently swatted away every time she reached for them.

"When do I say my first word?" Sehale asked. He sounded impatient.

"I'm getting to that part you just have to listen," Miotep said.

Sehale huffed a little bit and placed his head in his hands.

"Your Baba carried you up the stairs and placed you in the crib. You woke up and almost started to cry. But when you saw Baba standing there you smiled. I was standing at in the doorway just watching. Then Baba said what he always says to you kids before he kisses you goodnight…" Miotep didn't have to wait long before her three older kids simultaneously finished her sentence.

"'Baba loves you.'" The older kids chimed together.

"That's when Sehale laughed and said his first word, 'Baba'." Miotep finished the story.

"What's my first word?" Denahi said abruptly before the nice family moment had finished.

"Your first word was 'Mama'," Ashantis said. She was there for Denahi's first word. The kids turned their gazes towards their Aunty.

Aunty Ash cleared her throat, "I was called by your Mama to come quickly to your home. She said she couldn't find you. So quickly I hopped in my car and came to help look for you." Although Ashantis had some minor problems with her assembly of words, the children could understand her and were clinging to her every word.

"I got here and your Baba was upstairs looking for Denahi. Your Mama was downstairs. You were nowhere found." Ashantis smiled as she looked at Denahi who was hiding his smile with his cushion.

"Where was he?" Sehale interrupted.

"Sehale let her speak." Miotep shushed him gently.

"He was not in the bedrooms or the bathrooms. He was not in this room, and he was not outside. Then I felt a vibration."

"What's vi-bay-shun?" Nanenna asked her Mama.

"Ah, it's… a sort of a shaking you can feel… in your bones." Miotep struggled to answer.

"Oh no, did it hurt?" Nanenna whipped her head in Aunty Ash's direction.

"No, it was a gentle vibration. I followed it until the vibrations got stronger and I stopped outside of the pantry."

"What?!" Sehale shrieked in surprise, but he had a big smile on his face. "Denahi was in the pantry the whole time?!"

"Yes. The door was closed and he was trying to get out. The vibration was from Denahi smacking the door. I called to your Mama and she came running. She opened the door and Denahi screamed out 'Mama'." Ashantis finished. The kids were laughing at the story.

"Not to mention Denahi somehow got into the bread basket and was chewing on my homemade bread buns," Miotep added which made the kids laugh even more.

Ashantis was pulled from her laughter by a soft tap on her chin. She looked down at Nanenna who was still in her lap. "I don't have first word," Nanenna said quietly.

Ashantis couldn't hear her but due to her exceptional lip reading, she deciphered Nanenna's statement. "Of course you do. You just can't remember because you were too little." Ashantis said as she ran her hand through Nanenna's small afro.

"Mama, what my first word?" Nanenna asked her Mama. Mama seemed to know everyone's first word.

"Your first word was 'Mama', too," Miotep answered as she continued to gently swat Zantiri's hand away from her mouth.

"How?" Nanenna asked as she toyed with the hem of Aunty Ash's skirt.

Mama responded, "It was late at night and you were crying. The boys had all gone to bed and Baba and I had both tried to put you down to sleep. But you wouldn't have it. You continued to cry. Baba changed your nappy-"

"—I not wear nappy. I'm big girl now. I wear big girl knickers. See." Nanenna stood up from Ashantis' lap and lifted her dress to reveal a pair of pink and purple polka-dot knickers.

Denahi covered his mouth while he laughed silently to himself. Sehale screamed loudly and jumped off of his cushion to dive under it as he exclaimed, "No, 'Nenna! I don't want to see that!"

Nanenna giggled loudly and lowered her dress. She waited for Sehale to come out from under his cushion before she quickly lifted her dress again. Sehale screamed and covered his face with the pillow. "Mama, tell her to stop!" Sehale's muffled scream came from behind the pillow.

"Nanenna put your dress down. Big girls don't show their knickers to everyone." Miotep said firmly and gave Nanenna the infamous 'Mama bear glare'. Nanenna froze and almost broke into tears. Aunty Ash reached forward and helped Nanenna lower her dress. Nanenna completely forgot about the 'Mama bear glare' and sat back down in Aunty Ash' lap.

"It turns out that Nanenna was just hungry. I had fed her, but she wanted more. She knew Baba couldn't feed her so she called for me." Miotep finished the story and looked down at her twins.

"I'm hoping the girls will say 'Mama'," Miotep said as Ahadi entered the room. He had the soup simmering slowly on the stove.

Ahadi laughed a deep, throaty chuckle and moved closer to the sofa where his wife and two youngest daughters sat, "I hope they say-"

"Baba!" A young voice bellowed out from the small child sitting on Miotep's lap. Zantiri giggled and clapped her hands together before stretching them out in the direction of her Baba.

"What did you say?" Miotep asked facing the twin which was on her lap. She looked to her child than to the shocked faces around the room. The only face that didn't seem shocked was Ahadi's. He had a smug look plastered on his face.

"That's two for me." He said and picked up Zantiri. Zantiri bounced in his arms. "Go on, Zanny. Say it again." Ahadi said as he danced with his young daughter.

"Baba, Baba!" Zanny cried with laughter.

"Darn," Miotep said. She wanted to be disappointed but seeing her daughter laughing so freely with her Baba was worth it. She still had a chance. It was all down to Nyota.

"Come on, Nyta. Say 'Mama'," Miotep encouraged the other twin who had been hoisted into her lap. Nyota stared up at her Mama, then to her twin.

"Don't look at them, Sweety. Look at Mama. Say 'Mama'." Miotep was almost begging. Ahadi came closer to the other twin. "Stop right there, Ahadi. You're not allowed near this one." She laughed as she scooped Nyota up I'm her arms. Nyota laughed and started playing with her Mama's large, hooped earrings.

"Ow, Nyta. That's hurting Mama's ear." She managed to unclasp her child's hand from her earring. She stood with Nyota in her arms and ran out of the room. Ahadi was quick to follow with the other twin.

They ran around for a few minutes before Ahadi had to call it quits and get back to making soup. Miotep agreed. She, too, would stop pestering Nyota and make a start on the spicy bread.

She put Nyota in the navy blue baby bouncer while Ahadi placed the Zantiri in the deep purple baby bouncer. They had the bouncers nearby on the floor facing the kitchen. The twins would be able to watch their parents cook while they babbled loudly.

Ashantis set up a holo-vid for the older children before coming to help Miotep in the kitchen. While Ashantis ground the herbs and spices Miotep started beating the dough for the bread.

Miotep started humming to herself. It was soft at first. Only for her ears, really. Until she heard humming in response to her. Miotep looked around. She thought it was the fridge at first, but the fridge was already making noise. No one else in the kitchen seemed to have heard it. She mentally shrugged it off and continued to bake.

Ashantis added the spices and Miotep folded them into the dough. Zantiri started to become unsettled, starting to call for her Baba. Ashantis picked her up and walked around the kitchen. Saying hello to Baba every time she passed him.

Miotep started to hum again. There it was again. That faint humming sound. She looked around the room again. "Hold on a sec," Miotep said and motioned for everyone to be quiet.

The bubbling of the soup, the fridge and the background noise of the children's holo-vid could still be heard but every else fell silent.

"What is it?" Ahadi whispered to his wife as he made his way over to her.

"Listen." She replied with a soft voice. She started to hum again. A simple tune. A lullaby she often sings to the kids. She stopped humming. The instant she stops the echo starts. It is a lot more noticeable now that the kitchen was quieter.

"Do you hear that?" She asked the others.

Ashantis just laughed loudly. "I'm deaf, I can't hear anything."

Miotep quickly shushes her. "Where is it coming from?" She starts to hum the tune again. Only this time the unknown humming noise joins her. Miotep closes her eyes to try and determine the direction of where the other humming sound is coming from. She turns in the direction of the noise and opens her eyes, only to see a tiny baby in a navy blue baby bouncer.

"Nyota?" She says softly, a small smile appearing on her face. She gently hums the same tune, closing in on her daughter.

Nyota smiles back at her Mama and hums along with her. It isn't harmonious, and it's not exactly the same tune, but the fact that Nyota can hum along with her Mama makes Miotep swell with pride.

"No way." Ahadi smiles as he realises the source of the mysterious humming noise.

"Come here, you," Miotep says as she picks Nyota up from the bouncer and starts dancing with her around the room, singing loudly as she goes.

Nyota laughs and pats her Mama on the chest in time to the song she is singing.

Zantiri reaches for Baba and Ahadi swoops in to take her from Ashantis.

All the noise from the kitchen alerted Nanenna in the next room. She waddles out of the living room and into the kitchen to see an impromptu dance session, and she wants in. Nanenna loves Aunty Ash but she knows her Mama dances. She runs to Mama with her hands held high.

"Mama, I dance with you?" She is practically begging.

Miotep laughs and hands Nyota over to Ashantis, who places the young girl on her hip and starts shaking, sending Nyota into a fit of giggles.

Miotep picks up Nanenna who is much heavier than either one of the twins and starts dancing around the island bench.

As Ashantis falls into step behind Miotep, Nyota catches a glimpse at Aunty Ash's ears.

Mama doesn't have ears like this. Nyota ponders silently to herself. Nyota reaches up and grabs hold of Aunty Ash's hearing aid. A loud irritating note rings out from the device as Nyota runs her hands over the strange mechanism.

Miotep stops singing and the dancing ceases. Miotep puts Nanenna on the ground and races over to assist her younger sister.

"Nyta, no," Nanenna says to her younger sister. "That's Aunty Ash's ear." Nanenna continued.

Miotep helped Ashantis claim her hearing aid back from the grasp of Nyota's hand. "No, Nyota. You will hurt Aunty Ash's ears." Miotep spoke slowly, willing her daughter to understand.

Nyota looked at the hearing aid connected to her Auntie's ear.

"Ears," Nyota said to her Mama.

Miotep looked at her husband who was trying to conceal his laughter behind his dark hand.

"Say again." Miotep was shocked.

"Ears," Nyota repeated and reached out to grab at her Mama's ears again.

"You were supposed to say 'Mama'." Miotep said through a wide smile. "But I'll accept 'Ears'," Miotep said as she took Nyota into her own arms and nuzzled her.