Hoshi certainly hadn't expected him to show.
Standing at the open door, she stared at the sheepish expression on Phlox's face as he stood just outside her apartment. When she had extended the invitation for him to visit her here in London for Malcolm's birthday party, she hadn't been sure that he had actually heard her, and she certainly hadn't actually expected him to show up. With so many injuries from Acheron crowding Starfleet hospitals, as well as the millions of radiation victims from the Romulan attack still needing treatment, it hardly seemed likely that a physician of Phlox's amazing talents and skill would show up for something as trivial as an infant's first birthday party.
If she was entirely honest, Hoshi still felt a little guilty over throwing the party in the first place. It seemed ... wrong to be laughing and smiling while there were still so many people suffering in China or India or even on Mars. Up until the minute that her first guest arrived, she had honestly expected no one to show. That nearly everyone she had invited did appear seemed to validate her theory that they needed something to think about other than the fact that Earth itself had been attacked again.
"Your invitation did say that the party began at fifteen hundred," Phlox smiled. He was dressed in civilian attire and was carrying a large duffel bag.
"Of course! Come in!" Hoshi exclaimed as she backed away from the door and quickly gestured for him to enter. The muted sounds of the party could be heard from the main room, as Phlox crossed the threshold and entered the apartment. He shifted the duffel slightly as he followed Hoshi through the two meter long hallway. A hush fell over the small group of adults and children within the large room at his appearance, but to Hoshi's pleasure, no one seemed upset at his presence.
"You all know Phlox," she said, and that broke the ice. Stuart Reed limped forward to lend a hand with the duffel that the doctor was carrying, even as Maddie began clearing another place on the table.
"I do hope I'm not intruding," the Denobulan started, and Stuart gave him a slightly surprised look, as if it was ludicrous for the doctor to believe that his presence was not desired.
"Nonsense," the patriarch of the Reed clan declared. "You're always welcome here, Doctor." The Denobulan's grin was broad, but not the largest that Hoshi had seen from him. Still, she had to admit that it was nice to see him cheerful once more. During her short span of time on Endeavour, she'd been amazed at how dour he had become in recent weeks. The war, it seemed, had begun to grind him down as well.
"In that case," Phlox remarked as he began extracted items from the duffel, "Captain Tucker officially deemed me to be the bearer of gifts for young Malcolm." He smiled. "He wanted to come himself, but repairs to Endeavour required his presence." His smile faltered slightly, and Hoshi doubted that anyone but her had even noticed it.
"He threw you off the ship, didn't he?" she asked as she tried calm her suddenly over-eager son. The rueful expression that briefly crossed the doctor's face caused her to laugh, and Phlox gave her a sidelong look before chortling himself.
"The good captain threatened to have me escorted to the transporter if I did not make myself scarce," he chuckled. Several of the children present were staring at him with wide eyes, almost as if they didn't dare to breathe lest he suddenly vanish. "I suspect that Commander T'Pol was actually behind the decision, however."
"Why's that?" Stuart asked as continued to stack the boxes from the duffel in a pile; he was wearing a slightly stunned expression at the sheer volume of gifts coming from Starfleet crewmembers. The older man's breath abruptly caught, and he glanced away from everyone, clearly hoping that no one had noticed his momentary loss of composure.
Hoshi noticed, however.
She realized almost instantly what Stuart was experiencing, and her heart went out to her father-in-law. The gifts were coming from the friends of Stuart's lost son, all of whom probably wanted to be here in person but were unable to attend because of their duties with Starfleet. It was another reminder to the elder Reed of the many years that he had lost with his son because of foolish pride. Apart from the stories that Hoshi had told him, Stuart barely knew the Malcolm Reed who had served and died aboard Enterprise, and witnessing how much respect his absent shipmates had for their lost comrade only seemed to hammer that point home.
"I believe you humans have a saying," Phlox replied with an almost teasing smile. "Behind every great man, there's a much, much smarter woman." Hoshi joined the other women in laughing at his comment, even as the men present exchanged long-suffering looks.
The party was a greater success than Hoshi had hoped for, and accomplished her primary goal of getting the attendee's minds off of the recent Romulan attack, if only for a short period of time. It was not difficult to identify Phlox's present: a sterile tribble that was still capable of emitting its brethren's soothing coos. Trip's gift was also quite easy to identify: remarkably accurate-looking toy phase pistols mocked up to make obnoxious (but accurate) sounds every time that the trigger was pulled. To Hoshi's surprise, T'Pol had acquired a small stuffed sehlat and sent it, along with several candles obviously meant for the stressed out mother. Admiral Archer's gift was a small plaque that named Malcolm Reed Junior an honorary member of the Enterprise crew, with a place waiting for him in Starfleet once he was old enough; though her son didn't appreciate the plaque as much as Trip's annoying noisemaker, Hoshi found herself touched by the thought behind the admiral's gift.
Oddly, there was also an unmarked box bearing a beautiful stone octagon.
Hoshi studied the pendant for long moments before finally recognizing it as Akaali construction. Glittering red and green jewels were inlaid within the octagon's surface, and gold – or something that looked like gold – lettering spelled out a phrase. She frowned as she mentally translated it: family is everything. Unable to discern an origin of the gift, she put it aside for future contemplation, and returned her attention to her now sleepy – and thus, cranky – son.
By eighteen hundred hours, most of the party attendees had departed, leaving only Hoshi's mother, her in-laws, and Phlox. Getting Malcolm to sleep was much easier than Hoshi had expected, which allowed her to return to her guests quickly. Unsurprisingly, the topic of conversation had turned toward the war.
"-should string up the damned contractors who built that planetary defense system," Stuart was saying as he nursed a glass of wine. Hoshi's expression tightened slightly, and she busied herself with cleaning up so as to not reveal her inside knowledge. When Admiral Archer had ordered the knowledge about the Romulan possession of Starfleet IFF codes be kept secret, she hadn't been surprised. Discovery of that fact by the general public could only lead to bad things. She gave Phlox a discreet look, wondering if he was even aware of this fact.
"According to the news-nets," Peter April, Maddie's husband of only a few months, pointed out, "those weapons were the reason only two of the atomics got through."
"That was still two too many," the Reed patriach grumbled. He gave Phlox a look. "Do you think the Denobulans will join the war, Doctor?"
"I don't know," Phlox admitted, his expression revealing his discomfort. "My people have no military force to speak of anymore," he continued. "Not after our last war with the Antarans." The latter was said with a sad, almost embarrassed, expression.
"What about the Andorians?" April asked. "Or the Tellarites? They're part of this Coalition, aren't they?" He exhaled noisily and glowered at Stuart. "I swear, if your daughter hadn't forbidden it, Stu, I'd join Starfleet myself."
It was said in a joking manner, but the subtle undertone in Peter's words was anything but. It was a sentiment that Hoshi had encountered literally hundreds of times in the past week and a half. Whether it was the boy who ran the register at the local grocery she visited, or the two security guards at Heathrow, or even the friendly old man who lived across the hall from her, every non-member of Starfleet that she ran into during her off duty hours inquired about how they could help or whether UESPA needed someone of their particular qualifications.
"You do that," Maddie interjected with a smile, "and I'll divorce your bloody ass."
"Ah, a dominant female," Phlox chuckled, drawing several startled looks. He leaned closer to Peter and spoke in a stage whisper. "We have them on Denobula Triax too. It's best to do as they say." His broad, inhuman grin caused Stuart Reed to begin chortling.
"Listen to him," Hoshi smirked. "He has three wives." If anything, Phlox's smile grew even larger as Peter April shook his head in surprise.
"You're either completely daft," April commented, "or braver than any man I know."
"A bit of both, I suspect," Phlox replied, his comment causing even more chuckles. "But my great-father was much worse. He had nine wives." Surrounded by attentive listeners, Phlox seemed to warm to the subject, once more the ebullient and outgoing Denobulan whom Hoshi had first befriended. The grim resolve that had surrounded him while she was aboard Endeavour was gone, if only temporarily.
It was good to see him smile.