Spock began a closer inspection of the enclosed rectangular space after Benjamin's calculated retreat. He had little doubt the xenopsychiatrist had used the time they'd spent alone together to assess whether or not it would be appropriate to share this place with his future son-in-law. He was pleased to have passed the test.
He was not, as he supposed his father-in-law-to-be might have earlier feared, the least bit upset to suddenly find himself surrounded by specimens of the very flowers his mother had worked so hard to cultivate on Vulcan. Nor was he disturbed to see that the beds and paths had been laid in accordance with the plans of the original. It was comforting to see and smell the fruits of Amanda's hobby carried on at the home of his new family.
Spock was… touched, he decided, that Benjamin had done this for him.
On his third circuit of the space, he turned down a path he had not previously traversed. It led to a corner situated furthest from the garden entrance. Reaching the end of the path, he became aware of an enticing, and vaguely familiar scent.
The fragrance, carrying notes of lemongrass laid over cinnamon and vanilla, also held a faint hint of musk. The bushes were comprised of hardy-looking stems that were thick with leaves. Star-shaped blossoms, small and shaded a deep orange with brown centers nearly went unnoticed in the field of green.
"I'm calling it 'Nyota beta.'" Amanda Grayson's eyes had been alight with joy as she'd presented her first satisfactory crop. "Maybe by the time your children are ready to graduate from the Academy, I'll have figured out how to grow bigger flowers."
She'd laughed at her own teasing. The rose-like plant was to have been a graduation present for Cadet Uhura. And, clearly, an expression of his mother's hopes for the future.
"For now, though Spock. I couldn't wait to show them to you. I wish you could smell them and tell me if I got the scent right. I can't wait to see her face! Our girl won't mind that it's not the final version."
Spock reached out and touched bloom that was no larger than the ones he'd seen in that transmission. He felt an incongruous happiness welling inside. Memories of his mother often brought on spates of sadness, but Nyota, his father and his elder counterpart had often counseled him to focus on the joyful moments she'd shared with him. His success rate in that endeavor had steadily increased over the last five years.
None of his previous recollections, he reflected now, could compare with this one. Of course, he wished she could be here to see him marry Nyota. That she could see that she had been right. That conversation had been the first time he'd realized Nyota had become her choice as much as she was becoming his.
He leaned over and inhaled the smell of his lover.
Nyota allowed herself to be bustled into her parents' bedroom and stripped of her green dress and mantle.
"Into the shower, darling, but don't take long!" her mother ordered.
Ten minutes later, she was standing on a low stool before a triple mirror.
The filmy veil covered her hair and caressed her shoulders before drifting down to flow with the skirt of the gown almost to the floor.
The chiffon bodice snuggly followed the curves of her breasts then disappeared around her back. A wide strip of beaded ribbon ran from the cleft between the two small mounds to trace a line along her clavicles before curving to wrap around her delicate neck.
The skirt, in deeper shades of orange, shimmered slightly as she tried to get a glimpse of how she looked from the rear.
M'Umbha stood just behind her, tears streaming down her face again.
"Oh, my little star," she murmured. "You see how much he loves you?"
Nyota grinned.
"Mama," she said, unable to stifle a bubble of laughter, "that's what Bones said last night. He already made me cry, so you can stop trying."
Playful now, M'Umbha swatted her daughter lightly on the arm.
"Dr. McCoy is a very wise man," she chuckled, playing at chastising her daughter. "You and Spock would do well to listen to him a little more often. If it wasn't for him, you'd be getting married in your uniform and Spock would still be a pincushion!"
Both women dissolved into peals of laughter until M'Umbha determined it was time for Nyota to change back into the clothes she'd been wearing upon her arrival.
"No need to be too fancy for lunch today. Benjamin no doubt has Spock out in the garden by now," she confided. "Heaven knows when they'll come back from there."
Nyota giggled.
"Poor Spock," she said as she slipped the dress back into its protective bag. "He can find a garden 'fascinating' of course, but Baba is almost as crazy about them as Amanda was."
She stopped what she was doing and sighed. Sinking down onto her parents' bed, she looked up and held her mother's eyes with her own.
"I wish she was here, Mama."
M'Umbha crossed the room to sit with her.
"So do I, little star," she said, slipping an arm around Nyota. "We all do. She always believed this would happen, you know?"
"I know she did, Mama."
Something about her tone made M'Umbha glanced sharply at her youngest child.
A secretive smile rested on Nyota lips.
A/N: Yes, I know this was a tease. Way short, and it wasn't funny. It's actually a completely new bit I've stuffed in between the original chapters because I felt as if something were missing.
Only serious silly (sprinkled with loved-up mush) from here on in. (Which might mean a while before I update because, switching between this and Once/Future is hard, damn it!)