Chapter 6

A/N: Again, super apologies for taking so long to get this chapter written. More will be coming soon because I have the next one written already. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

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Trip flopped on the bed with an exhausted sigh causing both Jon and Erika to turn and look at him. They were all exhausted. That was why as soon as the meetings were over, they had both come straight back to their temporary quarters and, after a brief check to make sure that the girls were still happily playing with their babysitter, had crashed on the bed. Jon had even been too tired to put Ben in his crib, instead letting him sleep on his father's chest. Erika had been too tired to complain. They shouldn't have been surprised that Trip was burnt out too, but they were surprised that he had chosen their room instead of his.

"Hi Trip," Jon finally said as Trip stretched out on their bed.

"Mrrggghhh," Trip groaned.

"Why are you in our room?"

"It's cleaner than mine."

Erika frowned. "We've been here two days. How have you already trashed your quarters?"

"If I weren't deader than these treaty negotiations I might be able to tell you," Trip muttered, rolling over and resting his head on Jon's shoulder.

"Okay then," Jon sighed. The status of the treaty was not looking good. Jon supposed he should have realized this when the Coalition Council requested that both he and Erika join the negotiations team. He smiled to himself, remembering how he had joked that sending Erika into delicate negotiations was about as smart as plowing a ship into a minefield. Instead of being offended, Erika had readily agreed. But it turned out that Erika had been the most levelheaded person in the damn room. It was a wonder none of them had been shot or court-martialed yet.

On some level Jon knew it would all be worth it. This was the first real test of the defense pact since the end of the war. Since Coridan had backed out of the treaty, everyone had been holding their breath waiting for a time when an attack would come and the question of helping an unaffiliated planetary government would be brought front and center. But no one thought it would be this problematic. Several members of the Coalition were feeling particularly vindictive. Jon couldn't help but feel for them. When the Coridanites had sent in their formal withdrawal it had almost destabilized the entire effort to form a mutual defense pact in the first place. Now they were requesting the full protection of what was quickly becoming recognized as one of the most powerful alliances in the quadrant.

So a deal had been brokered: Coridan would get the defensive support they requested along with relief supplies and in exchange they would formally join the Coalition. It had all sounded so simple when the Security Council president had casually walked into his office and asked if Jon had any plans for the weekend. And like an idiot Jon said no. Now here he was, on Deneva, because someone had decided that Starfleet should mediate the negotiations. At least they had provided a babysitter.

Jon's train of thought came to an abrupt end when he heard someone begin snoring. Sure enough, Trip Tucker had fallen asleep. Jon nudged him awake with his elbow.

"Can't I sleep here?" Trip asked, waking up.

"Sure," Jon said at the same time that Erika said, "no." Jon gave his wife a knowing look and then proceeded to hand his sleeping two year old over to Trip. "There is a price if you stay. Keep this one asleep."

"How hard can that be?"

"Ha!" Erika exclaimed before Jon clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Just keep him quiet," Jon sighed, turning over to face his wife. He brushed her hair back from her face and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Jon…." Erika groaned, glancing over to where Trip was still laying on their bed. "Your second born is on our bed."

"I know," Jon sighed as he closed his eyes.

"Hey! Do you think he still does it?" Trip asked, suddenly wide-awake.

"Does what?" Jon murmured, as Erika placed her hand on his mouth.

"Don't encourage him," she whispered.

"You know, his special trick?" Trip continued, looking down at the sleeping toddler in his arms.

"Why don't you ask him a question and find out," Jon sighed.

Trip gently placed a hand on Ben, just like he used to do when Ben was in Erika's belly. Jon could almost hear him thinking for a moment, trying to think of the right question to ask. "Hey Ben," Trip finally whispered, "Do you think we should build engines with nacelles that can rotate?"

Curiosity got the better of him and Jon found himself rolling over to watch. There was no movement.

"Huh," Trip shrugged. "I guess not."

"Wait a minute," Jon said. "How do you know that really was a 'no' answer? You've got to ask him a question that we know has a yes or no answer, not some hypothetical engineering question."

"It made you sound worse than Veronica," Erika muttered. "Try an easier one, like this." She reached across Jon and placed a hand on her youngest child. "Ben, is your father crazy?" This time there was a very definite kick.

"See? He's still got it." She turned back over and pulled a pillow over her ears.

"Hey wait, Erika! He can still do it! He's still got his magic eight ball powers!" Jon exclaimed.

"And now you can all ask him questions without putting your hands on my stomach or waking me up in the middle of the night."

"You did that?" Trip asked cautiously.

"Never mind that," he frowned at his wife. "Try another one."

"Hmmm, okay. Are these negotiations as dead as they seem?" Ben gave a soft little kick and Trip looked over at Jon, raising an eyebrow hopefully. Jon just shook his head.

Erika was right though. One of Jon's favorite things to do while she was pregnant was to ask their magic eight ball baby all sorts of questions. It wasn't his fault that he usually thought of his questions once Erika had finally fallen asleep. He would try to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake his heavily pregnant wife, but as Erika put it, it was hard to sleep through someone trying to kick a hole in your stomach.

After Ben had been born, he continued to surprise them with his incredible intuitive abilities. He seemed to understand everything that was going on around him and was able to make sense of it all, as only a two year old could. As soon as he learned to walk, his favorite game was to grab his parents' shoes from around the house and bring them to wherever they were. He always knew whose shoes were whose. Jon had thought it was amazing. Erika thought it would have been pretty hard to miss that the giant ones were his, not hers. But Ben expanded his game to include his sisters' shoes and those of anyone who came over to their home. You could put out an assortment of seven or eight pairs of shoes, each belonging to a different person and Ben would make sure they would get back to the right person. He would carefully stoop down to pick them up and toddle his way around the house, checking each room until he found the person he was looking for. Then he would drop the shoes at their feet with a big smile. Or if it was Trip, he would run over to the couch where Trip had no doubt passed out and drop the shoes on his head. Maybe that was what they had to do tonight.

"So say your daddy likes the idea of separate navigation and conn officers," Trip was whispering to the baby. "Should I let him use my ship as the test pig?" Jon reached over and gently pulled Ben's little leg to give Trip a sharp kick. "Ow!" he yelped, before realizing what he had done and looked down to make sure someone was still sleeping. Sure enough he was. Jon didn't know what Erika had been complaining about; the kid was just like him, he could sleep through anything.

"What about these negotiations? Do you think we will reach a solution before your daddy and mommy resign from the service?" Trip asked, as Jon gave him a glare. Sure enough Ben gave a little kick.

"Good," Jon sighed.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" Trip asked. Jon didn't even have to look over to see what the result was. All he heard was Trip mumble "fine," and then quietly put the baby back in his crib.

"Good night, Trip," Erika groaned as she sleepily threw a pillow in his direction.

It was going to be a long couple of days.

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