The Two Big Ones
Chapter Six - Just Family
The Uhura Residence, Africa, Earth
June 2263
Spock
After the lunch mess had been cleaned up, people sat around in groups chatting. Nyota took his hand and led him out to the porch and they settled down on the stairs, looking out into the yard. There were children of every age from toddlers to students about to enter university, spread all over the yard. There was some sort of game with a large ball going on on one side of the yard, and near them, in the shade of a large tree, was a wooden frame on the ground, filled with sand. There were several small children there, shaping the sand with their hands and some small buckets. Spock watched intrigued. He had never seen anyone play with sand before.
There was a sudden cry and Nyota jumped up and ran across the yard. He rose quickly, prepared to follow her if necessary. She stooped down and picked a small child up off the ground, carrying her back to the porch. She sat down with the tiny girl in her lap, comforting. One small knee was skinned, a few drops of bright red blood standing there. "I will go and get the first aid kit." He turned and went quickly into the kitchen, taking the kit off the wall bracket and bringing it back outside.
While Nyota talked softly to the tiny girl, wiping her tears away, he gently cleaned the dirt from the knee and applied antiseptic and antibiotic to it. A small bandage went over the top. He looked at the bandage in surprise. There was a large rabbit on it. "Nyota. There is a rabbit on this bandage."
"Why so there is. Look, Jamilla, there is a rabbit there."
The tiny girl bent her head down to look at her knee. She giggled. She twisted around and whispered in Nyota's ear. Nyota giggled back. "No, Jamilla, Spock does not have a rabbit for a father. That is silly." She tickled the tiny girl and made her laugh. "Now what do you say to Spock for fixing your knee all up?"
Big brown eyes looked up at him. "Fank you, Spock." She stuck her fingers in her mouth and looked at him.
"You are very welcome, Jamilla. I hope your knee does not pain you as it heals."
Jamilla ducked her head and peered up at him from under Nyota's arm. She reached up and pulled Nyota's head down, whispering at her again. Nyota grinned at her. "Yes, you can do that."
Jamilla stood up, off of Nyota's lap, and took one step towards him. She reached out with her tiny hands and placed them on his cheeks. Then she leaned forward and puckered up her tiny lips and placed a delicate kiss on his mouth. Then she giggled and clapped her hands together and ran down the stairs, back out into the yard.
Spock sat there in shock. Such a bright, lively little mind that had been. He did not think he had ever been in contact with a child's mind before. He turned his eyes to Nyota and she smiled at him. "Isn't she lovely?"
"Indeed. Very bright. That was..unusual. I was not expecting it."
"It wasn't overwhelming?"
"No, not at all. Just...unexpected. I do not think I have ever touched a child's mind before. So...clear, bright."
Now he looked at her. "How did you come to know so much about caring for children?"
"Well, I'm the youngest. All the others are older. And I have lots of older cousins. So there were always babies around, ever since I can remember. And you never let a baby cry. Whoever's closest picks it up and changes it, rocks it, whatever needs doing. And when they get to the crawling and walking stage, the older children help out a lot, to give the poor mothers a chance to rest. It's just family, after all."
"Family. Your family is very different from mine. Many different experiences." They sat there, close together, thinking.
One of the children running around in the yard saw them sitting there and came running over, practically throwing himself in Nyota's lap. "Aunt Nyota! Tell us a story! Please, please." At the sound of the word story, children came flocking. Soon the stairs were covered with children. Nyota looked around. "Okay, okay, let me think. All right, how about a story about some aliens that we had on the Enterprise."
There were sighs and sounds from all the children, and they gathered even closer. She gathered the boy on her lap over onto one knee and began her story, telling of the three sets of delegates that they had transported, and all the misadventures that had occurred. When she got to the egg-laying, the children clapped and laughed. It was an excellent story to tell them and she described the three species of aliens quite well, telling of their different characteristics. When she had finished, there were immediate demands to hear the languages that the aliens had used. And so she spoke, first in the strange hissing language, and then in the soft sibilants, and last in the lilting songs of the feathered folk. The children sighed in amazement.
When they had sat silent for several minutes, the clamor for another story arose. Nyota looked at him. He hesitated. This was not a skill he had. Through the link between them, he felt her. Tell them of the green scaly, spiked things and how you and Jim rescued the away team. They'll love that. He was very unsure of this, but he did not wish to disappoint her. He looked at the children. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "A team of scientists had been sent down to a planet to assess the life there. They found a large lifeform, green, covered with scales and sharp spikes." There were gasps from the children. "These beings did attack the scientists, causing damage. They threw large rocks at them, breaking bones." There were more gasps, and some of the children clung to each other.
"It was necessary to go and rescue the scientists. The captain and I went down to the planet. No sooner were we there than the green scaly spiked beings attacked us, throwing rocks and pinning us down in the shelter of some large boulders." The children were all watching him now, their mouths hanging open in suspense. "We fired at them with our phasers set to stun, until they were all laying unconscious in the dirt. Then we began to look for the scientists. We found blood on a rock and drops of blood in the dirt, and followed them." There were oohs and aahs, and hands before mouths. "We found two of the scientists, injured, and moved them out of their hiding place so that they could be returned to the ship for medical care. But there was still another missing. We went back to the original clearing and looked again for signs of someone leaving the area. When we found another trail, we followed it." The children leaned forward even further, if that was possible.
"We found the other scientist, laying on the ground, being pelted with rocks by more of the green scaly spiked things. We fired at them, stunning them, and had the last scientist returned to the ship for medical care. Then we returned to the ship as well. All of the scientists recovered." The children were very quiet for a moment and then erupted. They had many questions. He answered each question as carefully as he could. He could feel Nyota's pleasure, there in the back of his mind, glowing happily at him. This activity was unusual for him, but it felt...pleasant. The discomfort had lasted only a few seconds. As soon as he saw those eager faces turned to him, discomfort had been replaced by something else. He had wanted to give these children something, to teach them something. It was very intriguing.
Someone came out of the house and told all the children to come and wash up for supper and they went, complaining. "Will you tell us another story after supper, Uncle Spock?"
Surprised, he could only nod. Nyota clasped his hand and smiled at him. He could not recall when he had ever felt this particular mood before. It was quite interesting. And it was amazing how much time had passed without his notice.