Jim was a little nervous. He had never been alone with a baby before now and while he could face an angry Klingon head on and not flinch, the slightest whimper of Spock's was terrifying to him.
Thankfully Spock was still the calmer of the two even at his new age. The little Vulcan babe was content to stare up at Jim's face and play with his fingers, smiling and giggling to himself every few minutes.
Bones had scanned the infant for anything abnormal and said he was in peak condition for a hybrid Vulcan. He'd be fine as long as Jim was at least within 10 feet and not held by anyone else.
It was still uncertain how long Spock was going to be like this, but Nurse Chapel had prepared him for long term baby sitting.
A cradle, a week's supply of formula, and a variety of clothes and toys had been provided and placed in his room while he helplessly stood by with a baby in his arms.
He hadn't planned to be a parent when he'd woken up that morning. Despite the shock of it all though he was secretly pleased to be the one Spock had picked to look after him. He would have been jealous if it had been anyone else. The Vulcan had become very near and dear to his heart and if something were to happen to him Jim never would have forgiven himself. He'd fallen for the Halfling somewhere in between the near death experiences and chess matches and he'd fallen hard.
To lose him now would have been unbearable.
It was almost peaceful to hold Spock in his arms and know that the half Vulcan was safe and secure, instead of having to worry about him being blown up the science labs or hurt on an away mission.
"I always knew you were a cute kid Spock, but I never dreamed this cute." Jim complemented the infant, secretly delighted at being able to do so without worrying about upsetting Spock.
The little Vulcan giggled at the surge of delight emanating from Jim's skin and pressed his palms to Jim's skin to send back his own joy.
Jim jolted at the unfamiliar feelings, but recognized it as the emotional transfer Uhura had prepared him for.
Spock would be able to tell him when he was in need of changing, food or sleep through this bond, even if they weren't touching. Even under the strange circumstances that was still pretty cool.
"I still hope they fix you up soon though. I don't know much about looking after a child. Even if it is you Spock."
Spock wiggled closer to Jim's warmth and held Jim's fingers to his lips. It was too endearing to see Spock act so cute.
Jim was so busy cooing over Spock that he didn't notice Uhura in his doorway until she cleared her throat loudly.
"I looked up everything we had on the Utylis's and spoke to Sulu and the away team. Looks like this was a case of the natives trying to be helpful and things going wrong, except this time it happened to Spock instead of you like it usually does."
"I resent that! It's not my fault bad things happen to me! They just do!" Jim cut in outrage, causing Spock to giggle.
Uhura rolled her eyes and made a 'moving on' gesture with her hand.
"Anyway, seems the queen was very interested in learning more about Spock while he was here. Utylis's are very emotional creatures and very empathetic. When one of them grows up as what they see as emotionally unhealthy they have a ritual for helping them. They believe that all emotional damage is done in the childhood and that the only way to fix them is to let them relive their earlier years with people who will offer them warmth and love.
To them Spock was the absolute worse case of emotional damage they had ever seen. They thought they were helping him and gaining points with the Federation at the same time. Spock's reluctant depiction of his early childhood to them didn't help any; he didn't have the greatest time growing up. We're just lucky she didn't try doing this to you."
Jim leaned against his desk and covered his face with his hand. He'd seen the natives grilling Spock about his childhood and hadn't given it much thought during the negotiations. He'd learned all about Spock's early years over the course of their time
together and he was aware that despite Spock's sugarcoating his life hadn't been the best.
All the adults in his life had been condescending and all the children had been cruel to him because of his mixed heritage. If anyone needed a chance to relive their childhood it would be Spock, but they didn't have the time or the resources to take care of Spock and raise him for back to adulthood.
Uhura noticed his worried expression and sighed.
"Don't worry Captain, the potion they gave Spock won't make him relive his whole life again. He should age a year for every standard week, but he won't have any memories of before now until he reaches the Utylis age of adulthood at eighteen. After eighteen weeks have passed the potion will end and Spock should return to his normal self with all his memories and about a 1/100 chance of having the ones he made while a child. Think you can handle 6 weeks with a growing Vulcan baby?"
Jim looked down on the tiny infant in his arms and smiled slightly.
"Six weeks is better than six years and eighteen weeks is way better than eighteen years. I can look after Spock for that long. I mean, how hard can taking care of him like this be?"
Uhura smiled and wondered how long it would take for Jim to regret those words.
Here's my chapter two!
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Yours truly,
Jessica499499