Disclaimer: If I owned Star Trek, I'm sure someone would have let me know by now.
AN: Written for a 5 Times prompt. 5 Times Spock saw his father loving his mother. :3
4: Delicious
"Alright," Amanda said evenly as she stepped out of the kitchen carrying an open tray.
From his seat, diagonal across from his father at their square table, Spock was concerned that his mother might drop the tray and its contents. The gentle red light from the diminutive candles danced across her face and reflected in her warm hair. Her smile was broad as she stepped into the room and placed the tray at the center of the table.
Atop the plain metallic tray was a small, circular cake. It was technically excellent in craft—perfectly formed, bearing a pressed fondant exterior, decorated with a detailed, mathematically perfect (albeit limited) fractal pattern, with no apparent errors despite the obvious hand-applicated quality of the colors. Atop the cake was a small flower—one of the few that grew upon the surface of Vulcan—and a sequence of small, colorful candles.
"Mother," Spock began and she shot him an amused look, "I do believe that the general purpose of the candles, in this particular tradition, is detailing the age of the recipient." He eyed the cake and the ten candles it held. "Father is well beyond ten years of age."
"I know that, Spock," she replied and smiled at him before reaching out and patting his hand assuringly. As she withdrew her hand, it became very apparent that she wasn't going to explain the issue of the candles. She cast him a look and he arched an eyebrow. "I can't convince you to sing, can I?" She glanced between him and his father, who looked decidedly unmoved by the display before him.
"Very well," she said after several seconds of silence—the candles were slow burning, but they were exhausting themselves at a significant rate. "You'll both just have to humor me," she prefaced and, before either could ask, she started singing. Her voice was pleasing (likely due to familiarity) but the song appeared to have an intentional off-key lilt and was moderately grating. As she concluded it sweetly, she motioned to Sarek and, with a hesitance that spoke of his distaste for this situation, he exhaled slowly and extinguished the candles on the cake. Amanda applauded him and Spock followed her example (with significantly less vigor).
"Who would like cake?" Amanda asked cheerfully as she retrieved a knife and several plates from the kitchen. Spock glanced at his father and the two shared a silent moment before she returned. Amanda didn't wait for them to answer, and served them both with relish. The cake appeared to be an amalgamation of Earth ingredients and flavoring from the few fruit-bearing plants on Vulcan. Spock arched an eyebrow as his mother eyed him expectantly.
"It is aesthetically pleasing," his father began abruptly and his mother's eyes fixed on him as he lifted his utensil and consumed a portion of his slice. He chewed mechanically and swallowed before inclining his head, "it is very delicious."
Spock arched an eyebrow and looked at his own slice as his mother placed a kiss on his father's forehead. He separated and placed a section of the confection into his mouth—his immediate visceral reaction was not what he had anticipated. He was grateful for his mother's distraction as he swallowed the bite. His eyes fell on his father as his mother took a liberal bite of her own slice—she sputtered and set the plate down swiftly.
"Oh my, something didn't replicate correctly," she muttered and a flush crept across her cheeks. She glanced between them, frowned at the cake, and excused herself to dispose of it. As she left, Sarek turned to answer Spock's questioning stare.
"You lied," Spock pointed out and his father arched an eyebrow.
"My statement was subjective as it evidenced only my own opinion," his father defended, his expression carefully schooled as he regarded Spock, "Therefore it cannot be a lie."