The Proud House of Uhura

New Vulcan was only hours away. The past eight days on the Enterprise had been bittersweet for both Spock and Nyota. As they were delighted to have the newest addition to their eccentric family, they were distracted from their joy, slightly by the fact that they would be leaving behind another family – their crew. Certainly, the move would not be permanent, but it would be for a while and it seemed that they would greatly miss the people they had become so comfortable with over the past nearly four years. Their careers in Starfleet had meant so much to them as to where they even placed their jobs above each other, at times, but now their children meant so much more than anything else that they could ever strive for.

Spock and Nyota would both still be enlisted in Starfleet and have Starfleet occupations, but they knew that life would be extremely different off of their ship. Nyota opened her luggage and checked everything for the twentieth time... and just like all the nineteen times before, everything that she needed was in her luggage. Security personnel began to move their luggage from the room to a shuttle, as they would be bringing a great amount of items with them, they would be shuttling to the surface of New Vulcan from its orbit, and Sulu would bring them there and bring the shuttle back to the Enterprise.

Styik was on the bridge with Spock and the other crew members and Nyota was in their chambers holding Sytar in her arms and watching the guards move the luggage when she received a transmission on her computer. She opened the connection to see her older brother, Yakpazauh, on her screen. He still looked exactly like a young version of their father. Only, now, his hair was cut extremely short. She gasped upon seeing him and the first thing she said was, "You cut your dreadlocks!"

"Yes, I did." He answered.

"You have been growing those for ten years!" She pointed out.

"Yes, I know that." He said.

She began to ask, "Why did you..."

Yakpazauh became a little annoyed as he responded to her, "Will you get off of my hair for a moment? Isn't that my new nephew? Let me see the little man." She held Sytar forward and Yakpazauh smiled, "That baby almost looks just like Mama, if he didn't have those ears." She looked at Sytar – he did look more like Ashaki than he did Nyota, but that was only because Nyota herself was just a darker version of Ashaki. Ashaki and Sytar's skin tones were closer than Nyota's and Sytar's and than Nyota's and Ashaki's. Yakpazauh asked, "In speaking of Mama, have you talked to her lately? Every time either Toimu or I speak with Baba, Mama has been unavailable." He chuckled uneasily, "It's freaking me out a little. Mama has never gone so long without speaking to me, not even when I made her mad. And as far as her not speaking to Toimu, well I shouldn't even have to explain the problem with that picture."

Nyota stared at the screen for a while, then asked, "Did you ask Baba about this?"

Yak looked slightly offended by the questioned as he answered, "Yes, of course. He said that it was complicated and he would try to explain when he next saw me, but seeing as how you have the Starfleet connection to the planet that they're stationed on, I assumed you may have been exposed to more insight that myself or Toimu could be. They didn't split up did they?"

"No." She answered quickly, but then could not bring herself to explain what had happened.

"Well then, what? Oh God, Mama's not sick is she? Are there any terminal illnesses that can be obtained on New Vulcan?" Yakpazauh's questions made her heart hurt, but she did not know how to ease his mind. She thought that Mwinyi would have handled this by now.

Her answer became, "Yak, it really would be best if you just waited until Baba could speak to you. It really is a very complicated issue. I assumed that he would have told you by now, but I don't know why. I had to find out another way."

"Find out what, Yo? You're scaring me!" Yak persisted.

Her reply was quick, "I can't say. We'll talk when we get to New Vulcan, okay?""How far are you from New Vulcan?" His tone indicated that he was going to worry and be angry at the same time, the entire time – she guessed.

"A little under three hours, and you?"

He answered, "A little over three hours. Are you landing at the Embassy?"

"Yes."

"Well, I will see you in about three hours." Her brother stated, still sounding mad about the situation. Yak never liked when one of his younger siblings knew something about family matters before he did. He had always felt that he should be told first and that he should be told man to man from his father. Nyota knew that this was the case in this situation as well, so she did not take offense by his angered tone. She knew that it was not directed towards her.

"Alright. see you then." She answered gently then reached for a button.

"Nyota." He called out, just as she was about to cut the connection.

"Yes, Yak?" She replied.

"Is it going to break my heart?" He was still concerned about the news of their mother... perhaps trying to prepare himself for the worse. Nyota knew from experience that he could never prepare himself for what he was about to learn within hours.

She nodded her head, sadly, and honestly answered, "It breaks mine." She ended the transmission.

She could not believe that her father had neglected to tell her brothers about their mother's condition! Perhaps he himself was doing bad enough where he wasn't able to. She had not spoken to him hardly at all in the entire time that she was pregnant with Sytar, and the last time – when she told him that their family would be coming to New Vulcan, he had told her that he would contact her brothers, so that they could come to visit and they could all see her new son. He had not said much more after that.

It surprised her that he would not share this, at least with Yakpazauh. Yak and Mwinyi were closer than anyone else in the Uhura house. Nyota could remember Mwinyi taking Yak along with him to different places and leaving her and Toimu behind, insisting that they were too little. She could remember them having conversations which Yak would kindly send her away from because they were having "grown folks' talk". It was Yak who generally helped to get Mwinyi off of Nyota's back about her decisions. Ashaki would try, of course, but Yak would succeed, generally.

Nyota quickly opened a new line of communication and contacted her younger brother, Toimu. When he appeared on her screen, he said, "Make it snappy, Yo. I can't fly and talk very well." She was somewhat pleased to see that he still looked as young as ever, and his hair was still as long and full and puffy as Ashaki's, although his face was just a lighter version of Mwinyi and Yak's.

"How far are you away from New Vulcan?"

"About four hours and I'm landing in the public access shuttle bay, not the Embassy, because my landing is garbage, and I need a more open space. Those landing decks are made for Federation pilots. I don't fly that way."

"I thought that you failed your pilot's test." She said, in a tone that seemed to border on scolding.

Toimu glanced around himself, exaggeratedly, as though being watched by someone and answered, "Girl, don't say such a thing over a transmission." He smiled about his own joke, then said, "I can't talk long. Is that all that you wanted to know?"

"Yes. I was curious because Yak and I are going to be arriving in closer to three hours." She told him, hoping that there was a way for him to arrive around the same time.

He caught on to her wish and responded, "No can do, Yo. I'll see you in about four hours. Is that one of my nephews?" He asked nudging his head forward at the baby in her held him out to Toimu, as she had to Yak and announced, "This is Sytar."

Unlike Yak, Toimu did not make a comment about the child's looks. Instead, he found himself distracted by the name and asked, "What kind of a name is that?"

"A Vulcan name. Styik named him." Her tone held some annoyance and a warning that he ought not to press the issue, even though his face had made it clear that he did not care for the name.

Toimu smiled brightly, and Nyota was glad to see it. She had always loved Toimu's smile. Even though he looked so much like Mwinyi, he, like Nyota, somehow had Ashaki's smile. Toimu said, "Well, I have a shuttle full of gifts for both of them. I want to start off from the top as the favorite uncle."

Nyota informed him, "I hate to tell you, but my best friend is Styik's favorite uncle."

Toimu pressed his lips together and scoffed a laugh, "That Russian boy? Please, Yo. That's just because Styik has not met ... aww hell!" Something had happened in his flight, but it did not seem detrimental. "Girl, did you want anything else? You are distracting me from flying."

She answered, "No, and you better not crash! See you shortly."

"Love you, Yo." He ended the transmission.

Toimu and Nyota were closer than Yakpazauh and Nyota, for one thing – Yak was ten years older than Nyota. Nyota and Toimu were only three years apart. They were often at the same schools, interfering with each other's social lives: Nyota scaring off tramp girls and Toimu "accidentally" asking her about certain occurrences when their parents were near like, "Who was that guy holding your books today?" Throughout school, they drove each other crazy, but when Nyota graduated and left to travel with Livingston, Toimu found himself contacting her for advice on women, to ask her if she thought this one or that one would be okay, what their parents would think, etc. By the time she left Livingston and enrolled in Starfleet, Toimu was the closest person to her in her family, aside from Ashaki.

The closest person to Ashaki in the family was Toimu. Toimu was Ashaki's baby boy, the baby of the family, period, and growing up often referred to himself as the "favorite" son, brother, grandson, godson, neighbor... he seemed to think that he was the favorite person of everyone when they were younger. Nyota did not realize until after she was gone from home that he did such things to mask his insecurity. He wasn't as strong or independent as either of his siblings and dealt with it by claiming to be loved more. That was why Mama did not make him help Papa with the workload in his garden. That was why Baba did not put extra pressure on him to make right career choices. That was why both of his parents seemed completely crazed when he announced to him that he would be enlisting in Starfleet, even though they had accepted it when Nyota had done it.

The truth was Toimu was the one that their parents always worried about. He cried and whined a lot when he was younger. He was not nearly as focused in school as their other two children. His hobbies and interests kept changing. His friends kept changing. He seemed unstable to Mwinyi, and Ashaki always defended him, insisting that he just had not figured out what he wanted to do. Now, he was nearly twenty seven, and so far, he had been an amateur movie maker, a fiction writer, an architect, a shuttle mechanic, an intergalactic construction worker, and a professional student. Toimu went to Starfleet for only two years before quitting and spending different semesters at different learning institutions, trying to find one "that fit". He attempted to get a private pilot's license, after obtaining a personal shuttle off of a movie knowledge challenge. Nyota had always told Toimu that he was full of useless information, but Toimu claimed that he used every bit of information that he obtained from various places... winning his shuttle was the only example that he had provided in years.

At the moment he was taking a semester off, and using his other qualifications for money. Nyota hated the fact that he insisted on flying his shuttle, despite the fact that he had not been qualified to do so, but he won the shuttle, he saw no reason not to use it just because he had failed a "silly test". "Reckless" that was what he had stitched across his letterman jacket, which he was given for four years of participation with the media team – the only thing that he sort of stuck to in school. He kept it on his schedule, but he missed class a lot, and showed up to the meetings, sometimes. Nyota was surprised that he had even gotten the damned jacket and told him as much when he told her about it.

One thing about Toimu that he never gave up on or faltered in was loving their mother more than anything. Toimu would sometimes try to continue with things that he had grown tired of or grown to hate simply to not let Ashaki down, again... Nyota dreaded to think of how he would take the news of what had become of her.

Styik walked into the room and said, "Father said that I should retrieve you and Sytar. He wishes for us to board the shuttle, now and he will make certain that anything else in the room is packed." She placed Sytar unto her shoulder and Styik placed his own hands behind his back as they headed for the shuttle. "Mother, I have a question to ask you."

"I've told you, Styik, you do not have to present the question. You may just proceed to ask."

"Do you think that your family will accept me? We already know how Father's side of the family thinks of me, and Dr. Uhura, of course. But, what about your brothers? How do you think that they will receive me?"

"They better receive you however they receive Sytar." She stopped walking and turned to face the boy, "Styik, they have no idea about my mother, and when we tell them, I am not going to let them abuse you in any way. I better not hear one mumbling word against you, or you will see a very angry Mommy, and she will take no prisoners." He nodded his head, curtly, like Spock would have, then continued to walk. They both continued.

Upon reaching the shuttle area, Nyota briskly walked over to Spock and kissed him on the cheek. Spock did not outwardly react, but she knew that she had just made him embarrassed, as he was still in uniform and officially still in duty aboard the ship. She then greeted Kirk, Chekov, and Sulu the same way. Maybe that would help him, a bit. Kirk asked, "Does the captain get to hold the baby one more time?" Nyota handed Sytar over to Kirk and he accepted the baby, comfortably.

The past week, Kirk had been practicing holding the child. Sytar had proven to be quite a "good" baby, hardly crying at all, then, when Kirk tries to pick him up, screaming at a frightening pitch.

"Did you pinch him by accident?" Nyota asked.

"No, I have nothing to accidentally pinch him with."

"Did you jerk him?"

"No, I think he just doesn't like me."

"Here, here... pause. Don't hand him to me, let me show you how to hold him properly. He's probably just uncomfortable. Here..." she helped Kirk to cradle Sytar down to a soft whine, and after trying to silence him with words and silly baby song, Kirk insisted on placing the boy back into his crib. Sytar immediately stopped crying.

"You need more practice, Captain." Spock stated.

Kirk threw both hands up in the air and announced, "I'll pass."

But, he had been lying. He had practiced everyday, and now, he wasn't even stiff when he accepted the baby from his mother. Nyota took the time without the baby in her arms to take Chekov by the hand and lead him away from the group. Spock glanced at them, but tried not to watch them, because he knew that if he did, someone would make a comment, and the comment would annoy him more than the interaction between his wife and Ensign Chekov.

Nyota said, "This is going to be so hard. Who am I going to rush over to at all kinds of weird hours and pester to no end?"

"Your younger brother?" Chekov offered, knowing that Uhura considered him to be like her younger brother, and knowing that he was the person in her life that he himself was easiest compared to.

She answered, "He won't be there the whole time, and he probably is going to tear my heart out when he finds out about Mama."

"Dr. Uhura has not told them?" Chekov asked, very surprised.

Nyota shook her head, "No, and he is going to tell them in a few hours."

"He is going to ruin Sytar's first meeting with the family." Chekov whispered loudly.

"Luckily, Sytar is not going to remember it." was her answer.

"He is going to ruin Styik's first meeting with the family." Chekov now observed, slightly saddened by the revelation.

"I can take care of myself." Styik said, walking up. Chekov grabbed the boy and threw him over his shoulder, which made Styik laugh, despite the fact that he had been wearing his serious face all day.

Chekov put the child down and Nyota looked at him, seriously and said, "Styik, honey, Mommy and Pavel are having a personal conversation. That was why I pulled him aside, okay? So, please, excuse us for a moment longer." Styik nodded, his face serious again, and walked over to stand next to Spock.

Spock glanced at Styik and appeared to say something to him, then Nyota heard Styik say, "She made me leave their private conversation." She sighed. She could only imagine what kind of ideas that put into Spock's head, but she knew that Styik knew better than to plant them. She would deal with him later.

Back to Pavel's statement, she responded, in a whisper, "Styik is a little insecure about meeting them. If it goes too bad, he might shut us out. Do you think that you could check on him, pretty regularly, to see how he is handling everything? He would appreciate it, and so will I."

Chekov answered, "I plan to contact him as much as I can, and you as well, Uhura. I love the both of you very much, and I will miss both of you enough to be concerned with how you are both doing, and I will want to check on Sytar, as well." She nodded her head and wrapped him up in a tight hug.

Spock now, was actually watching them, despite what type of comment may come of his behavior. When Chekov hugged Uhura back, the hug seemed to last for longer than Spock thought that it should. 12.15 seconds, and even when it ended, her hands were still on his shoulders. Kirk broke into Spock's thoughts with, "At least it's not Scotty." Spock looked at the captain. He was not the least bit impressed with the comment.

Nyota and Chekov made their way back to the group and Spock said, "If there are no other personal matters to address, it would be prudent of you to now board the shuttle. You were asked to do so 9.653 minutes ago, Lieutenant."

She forced an angry smile and glanced at Chekov, "I told you I was going to get in trouble!" She said sarcastically, like a little child, as Spock sometimes seemed to speak to her like an unruly child, like now - in front of others, which he knew made her upset, and he would hear a piece of her mind about it, but she did not want to leave the crew on such a note as her tearing into him about his tone or his jealousy issues, that they all knew were there, despite the fact that he seemed to think that no one did.

Kirk stared at her with wide eyes and she caught the look. It softened her anger a bit to know that Kirk had been intimidated by what he thought that she was about to do to Spock. Not our last moments here, Kirk. She thought to herself as she smiled at him and took the baby back. She placed the infant into the seat made specifically for the safest possible transport of an infant while on a shuttle. This infant shuttle seat had been there since the beginning of Uhura's first pregnancy, and she was delighted to finally be able to use it for her baby.

Styik climbed into a seat next to Sytar's seat, and began to secure himself in the chair. He thought back to the last time that he sat in a shuttle – when Sybok thought that himself, Styik, Nyota and her unborn child were about to fly away together and become a family. Styik smiled to himself about the fact that it had not become so, although he was slightly bothered by the shuttle ride. His concern was not the fact that he was afraid for himself, but he was concerned about Sytar's safety. The baby looked comfortable and safe in the seat, but Styik found himself still worried about his brother as he watched Nyota secure herself in the seat on the other side of the baby.

She looked at Styik and asked, "Are you ready?"

He nodded his head once, then asked, "In the event that something happens to this shuttle, do you know the margin of safety for Sytar in that seat?"

"No, but Spock does and he is comfortable enough with it to allow us to travel." Styik nodded his head and felt himself calm down about the issue. Spock's certainty always granted both of them the necessary trust to follow through with the things that they may have worried about without it.

Spock climbed into the shuttle with Kirk, Sulu and Chekov behind him. Nyota looked at them, glad that they had decided to take the ride to the surface with them, and wishing that the others could have come too. Dr. McCoy, for example, she wished could have been there, but instead, he had to remain away from the baby, as some type of virus had been going around the ship and McCoy was worried about passing any germs along to Sytar. Nyota stroked her baby's face and whispered in Swahili, "If you only knew how precious you are to everyone in your life." Styik glanced at her when he heard what she said, but did not comment.

Sulu set up in the pilot's area, with Chekov with him and Kirk and Spock seated themselves behind Nyota and the children. Nyota had not been on a shuttle in years, and she was anxious to get this over with and have Sytar safely on the ground. She felt a hand on her own hand and looked down to see Spock's long, pale fingers gently stroking her soft mahogany skin. "I apologize for my tone, earlier. Please forgive me." She heard him say directly to her mind.

"I forgive you. You have escaped punishment, this time." She responded, knowing that Spock probably had needed coaching from Kirk to even know that an apology was in order, but accepting the fact that he had come to a point where he did take advice from human men when dealing with her, when before, he had been so reluctant to do so.

As they began to take off in the shuttle, Nyota closed her eyes and began to sing. She chose a song that her mother sang around the house when she was a child, and when Styik began to hum along she opened her eyes and smiled at him, continuing to sing. Apparently, her mother was still singing the song by the time Styik met her. It was an old African song, in Swahili, in which the singer asks for God to smile upon the children of the world. Nyota did not know if the song had a title, or if the song was an official song or just a folk song passed down generations, but it seemed appropriate to her, for the journey and it helped her to feel more at ease when she sang it.

Before she knew it, they were landing in the shuttle bay of the New Vulcan Embassy. There was a group of Vulcans dressed in all red robes and pants, and one of them approached the shuttle as the members of the family began to get out. The one who approached greeted Spock with the Vulcan salute, which Spock returned. The two of them began to speak in High Vulcan to each other, but Nyota could not hear them from where she was, getting Sytar out of his seat. She was going to climb out of the shuttle when the Vulcan in red broke away from his conversation with Spock to quickly move to help her step down from the shuttle.

When he did this, he placed one of his hands on the small of her back and the other on her elbow, which made her blush slightly, as she noticed that the Vulcan was extremely attractive. This made her embarrassed, because even with her skin tone, she knew that everyone could see her blushing to a cinnamon color, and she also knew that Spock would have comments about it, later, when no one was around to hear his jealousy come out. She thanked the Vulcan without looking at him.

"No problem, My Lady. This is a part of my job." Now, she looked at him and briefly studied his face. He had an olive complexion and long black hair, hair that fell down his back, but was tied in a ponytail with several ties the entire way down the ponytail. His hair was slick back, not with bangs and his eyes were amber. He was absolutely gorgeous, and she dropped her head, again, feeling her temperature go to a point that she was even more embarrassed about than before. The Vulcan introduced himself, "I am Vulrak, your personal guard. I was appointed to you by the High Vulcan council, and the others there standing with Sir Spock are other guards of your family."

She looked at the other Vulcans in red and bowed slightly to them. Her eyes settled upon Spock. His eyes said so much at once and none of it was good. She walked over to him with the baby and asked, "Did you know about this little detail?" She knew that it would be best to just ignore her discrepancy while all of these others were around. Spock nodded, once, and did not elaborate, although she could guess that he had not known that she would find Vulrak so attractive.

As they entered the Embassy, surrounded by the Vulcans in red, Spock walked next to Vulrak as Vulrak said, "After the events which occurred the last time that you visited us, the council decided that the noblewomen of New Vulcan were no longer safe to venture on their own, as well as the children. They elected to begin the High Vulcan guard, of their own Vulcans, as well as some of us, who they believed could be voices of peace to our brethren, after Sybok's departure." Nyota nodded. Vulrak was one of the outsiders, one of Sybok's former followers. That made her slightly nervous. As though reading her mind, he said, "I do not condone the taking of other men's wives or children. I am not like Sybok, and the only reason that I was grouped in with the others is due to the fact that I value emotion higher than I do logic. I believe in a balance of emotion and logic, My Lady, not a suppression of either. The difficult part of such a belief is that sometimes, one must be suppressed in order to keep the balance. However, suppression must vary. It can not always be logic or always be emotion. Such suppression creates danger to one's self and those around him." She nodded again as they entered the Embassy.

Kirk and Spock were escorted to where they would convene with the council, for a moment, while Nyota, Styik and Sytar were taken to their new home, at Sarek's mansion, by the High Vulcan Guard. Chekov and Sulu were with the family and Enterprise security personnel were beamed down to unpack the shuttle for Spock's family, to the mansion. Chekov whispered to Uhura in Russian, "Commander Spock is going to get you for the way that you looked at that guard." She threw him an angry look and he said, "Don't get mad at me, you're the one who forgot that you were married for a moment."

"It's just my hormones, Chekov. They aren't back to normal, yet!" She snapped back in his native language.

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "You had better hoped that the Commander accepts this explanation. What is it with you and Vulcan men and their mean eyebrows and pointy ears?"

She punched him in the arm and retorted, "You are speaking negatively about my children, too!" He held his arm where she punched him and her face went soft. She rubbed the spot with her hand and said, "Sorry," in Federation Standard.

Vulrak smirked at them and asked, in Russian, "Are you family?"

Now, Uhura felt her entire face flush and Chekov stifled a laugh as he answered, "Practically, Sir."

Vulrak turned towards Nyota and explained, "One of the reasons that I was picked as your personal guard, My Lady, is because I am an expert linguist. Your father recommended me, in the event that a threat could come to you through someone attempting to use some language other than the ones that most are familiar with. I apologize for not telling you before your interactions with your family, here." She shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it. A moment ago, you said that my father recommended you. Did you mean Spock's father, Sarek, or did you mean, my father?"

"Your father, Dr. Mwinyi Uhura. My brother was in his care at the institution. He and I are friends. He is friends with most of us, despite Sybok's betrayal of him."

"Are you also familiar with my mother?" She asked, curiously.

"Your mother was like a mother to my brother, before her unfortunate accident." Vulrak reflexively glanced at Styik and Styik grabbed Nyota's free hand. She squeezed his hand. "Do not worry, Styik. No one is blaming you. I promise that I will not let anyone do anything to you." She spoke mentally with her son.

Styik had known the child that Vulrak was speaking of. He was a twelve year old boy named Zytok. He was quiet, to the point that Styik thought that he was a mute for most of their time in the place. After Ashaki's accident, the boy had tried to attack Styik, and it was the first time that Styik had heard him speak. He had said, "You hurt her!" And proceeded to choke Styik. Dr. Uhura had stopped the boy and had him restrained. It was then that Dr. Uhura decided that it was not safe for Styik to leave his own room and began to keep him there at all times. Styik accidentally passed his emotions into Nyota and she flinched, but when he tried to pull his hand away, she held tightly to it. It was uncomfortable, but she could handle it. Styik would not have to handle it alone.

Sulu received a call from the captain on his communicator, "Mr. Sulu. You and Mr. Chekov report back to the shuttle. I'm headed that way now. Kirk out." Chekov and Sulu both hugged Nyota and Styik before promptly following Kirk's orders. Nyota wished that she could have had the time to say goodbye to Kirk, but she realized that this was just a stop along the way and that he had responsibilities to tend to. When it was only herself, her sons and her personal guard in the fantastically large bedroom, she realized that her life as she knew it had ended and a new life had just begun.

She decided not to meet up with her family until Toimu arrived on the planet. With her Vulcan noblewoman attire on, and Sytar wrapped up in a soft blanket, she waited patiently for Tiomu's shuttle. After he landed, quite erratically, to her amusement, he got out of the shuttle and stared at her for a moment. After a while he called out, "Yo?" She smiled at him and he rushed over to her and greeted her with a hug. "Girl, I thought that you were one of them. Why do you have on all these clothes? Are they Muslims?" The question caused Vulrak to laugh. Toimu looked at him and asked, "Who is this?"

"I am Vulrak, the Lady Uhura's personal guard." Vulrak answered.

Tiomu looked around and asked, "Where is the rest of your family? Where's my other nephew? Where is my brother-in-law? Where is Baba, Mama, and Yak? Is something going on?"

Nyota placed her hand on Toimu's shoulder and said, "Calm down, Toimu. Spock is convening with the council, Styik is testing for entry at the school, and I wanted to wait on you before I had to face Baba and Yak." She purposefully left out "Mama",not wanting to lie to him, but not wanting to tell him the truth either. Toimu's face automatically distorted and he asked, "Baba and Yak? Where is Mama?"

Vulrak looked at Nyota, to see if she needed him to explain, but she quickly answered her brother, with, "We have to meet up with Baba and Yak, first. I am not sure if I know how to tell you about Mama."

"Just tell me, Yo. You know that anything bad would be easier coming from you, to me, than Baba or Yakpazauh."

She took a deep breath and said, "Mama had a breakdown. She is in the institution, as one of the residents, or at least she was the last time that I was here." Toimu leaned forward as though the wind had been knocked out of him, like he had been hit hard in the guts. Nyota touched his cheek and said, "I am so sorry that I did not tell you. I'm sorry." He gave her a hug and crumpled onto her shoulder, trying not to cry. He was successful. No tears fell, though he spasmed a few times in trying to prevent them.

He disconnected the hug and asked, "Will she be alright?"

"Her condition is rare and seems irreversible, at the moment." They began to walk to the hover transport, as Vulrak ordered members of his guard to unload Toimu's shuttle and bring the items to Dr. Uhura's home. He helped Nyota into her seat and Toimu climbed into the transport, as well. Vulrak slid in next to the driver and the transport headed for Dr. Uhura's home.

Toimu and Nyota remained silent for the short ride, and Vulrak looked back at his ward several times along the way. When they arrived, Vulrak sent the driver to the door to announce Nyota's arrival. This treatment was new and strange to her, as she had never come to her father's house before in need of any announcing, but Vulrak had told her that it was a safety precaution, for the driver to check to see that the intended host was there, and not an intruder or waiting predator. She seriously doubted that they had to worry about someone taking her, but at the same time, she was glad that if somehow Sybok or one of his followers decided to seek vengeance, they would have to get past all of this junk first.

Vulrak helped Nyota from the vehicle and Toimu climbed out and stormed quickly towards the door of his father's home. "Toimu!" Nyota tried to call out, but her brother did not seem to hear her as he rushed passed the driver who was at the door, pushed the door open and immediately began yelling in Swahili. The driver rushed away from the door and back to the transport. Nyota headed for the house, but Vulrak gently caught her arm and informed her, "My duties do not permit me to allow you to enter a hostile environment."

"It's my family." She told him.

"I am familiar with the concept of family, but I can not allow you to move forward, especially not with the infant in your arms." He replied.

"Couldn't you just come along with me, to make sure that I don't get hurt? I am concerned about my family, Vulrak."

He shook his head and told her, "My duties are clear, My Lady. I am to let no harm come to you, or your child and I am not to allow you to enter into a hostile environment." Toimu emerged from the house and approached Nyota, but Vulrak quickly cut him off.

The man looked at the Vulcan in front of him, then at Nyota and said, "Did you think that was funny?" Nyota looked confused, then she turned towards the house and saw Ashaki standing in the doorway with Mwinyi, and Yakpazauh behind them. Nyota's knees went weak, but Vulrak noticed and caught her, to assist her with her balance. Toimu said, "Because, I did not think that it was funny, at all." Nyota looked at Toimu. He was angry with her.

She then looked at Vulrak and asked, "Is it still considered a hostile environment?"

"The threat is minimal." Vulrak answered. He escorted her to the house.

Ashaki smiled brightly and said, "Nyota!" She threw her arms around her daughter, then reached for the baby, "Let me hold my grandson." Nyota passed Sytar to Ashaki, turned to Vulrak and said, "Stay with the baby. I need a word with my father, alone." She grabbed Mwinyi by the sleeve of his shirt, something that she never would have thought to do before, and pulled him into the house, into another room. "What have you done?" She asked.

"Sybok was not the only Vulcan in New Vulcan with the ability to mend Ashaki. Dr. T'Priu helped me, for the reunion. I knew that Ashaki would have wanted to see her first grandchild. Why did you tell Toimu about her condition?"

"Because he asked, and unlike you, I am not a liar!" She whispered loudly, not wanting them to hear her from the other room, but finding it hard to control her tone.

"I am not a liar, Nyota. I am merely trying to protect my family from unnecessary hurt. Your brothers will not be here again probably for a number of years. They do not visit often, and I did not want their visit to be an unpleasant one."

"So you had Mama mended, even though she asked you not to, and you promised not to... that seems to make you a liar." Yak entered the room and both Nyota and Mwinyi became completely silent.

Yak leaned against the wall and said, "Baba, it would seem that you owe us an explanation. Both Toimu and I know that Nyota is not vindictive or dishonest. She has a very limited sense of humor, which is for the most part, when in effect sarcastic and intelligent. I have a problem believing that she would tell Toimu a story like that as a prank, and she seemed genuinely shocked to see Mama."

Mwinyi sighed and went back into the front room, where Ashaki was seated with the baby on her lap and Vulrak was standing guard. Toimu was standing in the center of the room with his arms folding, wearing a scowl. He looked from Nyota, to Mwinyi, then asked, "Is someone going to explain something?"

Mwinyi held out a palm towards the couch and said, "Yakpazauh has made a valid point in telling me what needs to be done here, today. I do have some explaining to do."

Ashaki's eyes glazed over and she interrupted, "Mwinyi, perhaps it would sound better coming from me. I only have a few hours, after all, and it is not certain when or if I will be mended again."

"What does that mean? You only have a few hours?" Toimu asked.

"Please, sit down, Toimu." Ashaki asked. When all of her children and her husband was seated, Ashaki looked at Vulrak and asked, "Would you mind excusing us for a moment, please, Vulrak?" He bowed respectively and waited outside of the front door.

Ashaki began to talk about her job at the institution, and how fond of the children she had become in the few short years that she worked with them, there. She told them of the story of a particularly troubled boy, and gave them the details of his unique situation, without revealing his name to them. She spoke of how the child felt about her and about his situation and her sorrow and love for the boy in his plight. Then, she told them about her accident, and about how they had dealt with the accident, keeping her in the institution, because it would be the safest place for her, in her condition, and mending her for special occasions and appearances. She told them of her desire not to be mended again, after Nyota's kidnapping and all of those details, which neither of her brothers had known about, either, and admitted that although she had not wanted to have another mending that she was truly grateful for the chance to see Sytar for the first time and to see the rest of her family again.

Toimu now could not keep himself from crying. He asked, "What happened to the child who did this to you." Now, the room went completely silent aside from his sniffles. He looked around the room to see Nyota, Mwinyi and Ashaki exchange glances.

Ashaki offered, "Toimu, surely you understand that this was not the child's fault and that he should not be blamed for my condition."

"I just asked a question, Mama. I'm only curious." He said.

Nyota took a deep breath and said, "Styik is the child." Now, Toimu's face froze on her.

He wiped his eyes, and his tears seemed to freeze in the ducts, because not another one fell down his cheeks. He asked, "You saw fit to adopt a child capable of what Mama just described to us into our family? For the duration of your pregnancy, you had something that dangerous in your home, and now near my nephew?"

"Styik is your nephew, too, Toimu." Yak said, calmly.

"Damn that!" Toimu snarled. "Styik is a little time bomb! If he loved Mama as much as she described and still managed to do to her what he did, what makes you think that he won't accidentally do something to hurt you or the baby in a similar manner? Spock agreed to this illogical shit? I know that it must have been your idea, Nyota. You with your bleeding heart saw a child that you though needed a family and took him in, but I am shocked and disappointed in Spock for letting you go through with it."

Nyota stared straight ahead, trying to center herself. Toimu was upset. He had just been given traumatic news, and he was just venting. She was not going to react to him. She walked herself through some meditations until she heard Toimu say, "You take in every nutso that you come across." He had not said it, but she knew that he was referring to Livingston, and it made her face grow hot. "What is it with you and these tragic figures. Your tragic Vulcan husband, tragic crazy beast son, your tragic mad scientist ex fiance..."

Nyota stood up and said, "And what is it with your failure to launch, Toimu? Why don't you keep a job? Why do you get a degree, then quit the occupation and move to another? I may have a soft heart, but at least I have some direction. At least I know what I want my life to be and I work for it, and achieve at it. I could have lashed out at you for throwing your life away several times, but I accepted your decisions, because they were yours to make, and not mine!" She made herself hold back her tears. "But, you walk into this situation, with your spoiled rotten attitude, and I, out of love and respect for you, tell you the truth, as you asked me to, and then you turn right around and attack me!" Vulrak reentered the house and looked at Nyota. She waved a hand and said, "I'm not in danger, Vulrak." He still shut the door, remaining inside of the house. Nyota pointed at Toimu and said, "You have no idea what I have had to go through in the last few years as it relates to my career and my husband, and my children, but you know what, I do not have any regrets, Toimu. Unlike you, I can live with and stick with my decisions, and I better not hear you say anything else about my son, because you don't know what he has had to go through either! How dare you judge me? How dare you judge my family? Whether by marriage or adoption, my tragic family is your family, now, so I suggest that you get real used to accepting the things that you can not change. My family is not one of your ventures. You can't just switch it because you don't like it." She reached for Sytar and said, "Let me have my son, I need to go."

Ashaki stood up, with tears in her eyes at all that had just happened and returned the baby to Nyota's hold. Nyota hugged her mother and said, "I'm sorry that I blew up like that, Mama. I really am glad that I had a chance to see you smile and that you had a chance to see the baby."

"I wanted to see Styik, too." Ashaki said. Now, Nyota pulled back from the hug and looked at her. Ashaki said, "I never had the chance to tell him that I did not blame him. I never had the chance to let him know that I still love him. Is it possible for me to see him? I do not have very long left, and I wish to tell himself, not just through one of your memories."

Nyota looked at Vulrak and asked, "Can you get him brought here?" He nodded once and used his finely tuned telepathy to contact Styik's personal guard and instruct her to bring him to the Uhura house.

When Styik entered, Nyota quickly went to hug him, then took him by the hand over to the rest of the family. Styik smiled when he saw Ashaki and she went to gather him into an embrace and lift him from the ground. She groaned as she did and said, "Oh, you have grown a lot since the last time I picked you up. You are a heavy boy! You look happy." She said. Then, he hugged her tightly, and Nyota knew that they were having a private conversation, for only the two of them to hear. Mwinyi walked over to them and stroked Styik's hair once, then took both his wife and the child she held into an embrace.

He whispered to the boy, "I have been wrong to blame you, Styik. Your mother has made me realize how much."

Styik glanced at him and smiled, then Ashaki put him down. She said, "I have confidence that you can figure out a way, Styik." She tousled his hair and pushed him forward towards Nyota.

Nyota gathered him near herself and said, "Styik, I want to introduce you to my two brothers, your uncles, Yakpazauh." Styik shook the man's hand and nodded briefly. "And Toimu." When Styik shook Toimu's hand, he quickly took his hand back and rushed to hug Nyota again. Nyota threw Toimu a glare and rubbed the side of Styik's face. "It's alright, Styik. He doesn't mean it. He is just confused, right now."

Styik stared at Toimu and Toimu offered, "Sorry. I'm not used to the whole transfer emotion through touch. Um... I got you and your brother some gifts! Spock said that you like nueroscience, so I picked up everything that I could on it, along the way. I also got some other smartsy gifts for you."

"Thank you." Styik said, still staring at Toimu.

A knock sounded on the door and when Vulrak answered it, Spock walked into the house. Styik immediately ran over to him and Spock gathered him from the ground. "What is wrong, Styik?" Spock asked. Styik laid his head against Spock's and Spock looked at Toimu. Nyota sighed and went to meet Spock.

"He didn't mean to scare him." She assured Spock. Spock nodded his head, then proceeded to greet the others in the family.

After greeting Spock, Toimu went outside. Nyota handed the baby to Spock, Spock put Sytar on one arm and kept hold of Styik with the other as Nyota followed her brother. She spoke first, "I was just mad."

"No, you were being honest. That's fine. I was wrong to jump you the way that I did." She gave him a hug and he asked, "How in the hell do you deal with your life? I have never understood how you handle everything so well."

"I do what I have to do, to be who I want to be, and have the life that I want to have." She answered. "And, despite the fact that you are spoiled and flighty, I know that you love me, and I know that you can learn to love my family too. I gotta tell you though, I think you messed up your first impression as favorite uncle."

They both laughed, then he said, "I'll bounce back. I usually do. How are you, though, Yo? I knew about the miscarriages, but what about the whole kidnapping ordeal? You over it?"

"It is something that has happened, and I continue to live my life. Sybok is imprisoned and Styik and I are both safe with Spock."

"I like Spock, but don't tell him. He might get an ego, and that seems too dangerous to place in a Vulcan's possession." He smiled when he said this.

They heard the door and turned towards it to see Ashaki staring blankly out ahead of her. Nyota covered her mouth. She knew about her mother's condition, but she had not yet seen it with her own eyes. Mwinyi helped Ashaki to their transport as she seemed unable to move at all, with him directing her each step, making her legs move to walk forward. Toimu turned away from the sight and said, "Her eyes look empty, like she's dead."

Spock approached Nyota, with Sytar still in his arms, and said, "It is time for us to go to the mansion. My family would like to meet, Sytar." She nodded her head and squeezed Toimu's hand. Spock said to him, "We will see you again, soon." Styik was next to Spock, holding on to his father as though detaching himself might be dangerous. Toimu nodded at both Spock and Styik, then went back into the house to talk to Yakpazauh. Spock looked at Nyota and told her, "Styik is not afraid of your brother. Your brother is afraid of Styik." She reached for the baby and Spock handed their son to her. "Styik is afraid of the possibilities that accompany another's fears."

"Styik is safe with us, Spock." She said.

"I know this, but he still worries." He informed her. Spock helped Styik into the transport and Styik strapped himself in. His uncle's reaction to him hurt his feelings, but at least he now knew how he would be received. Now, he had to face the Vulcan side of the family – the side that he was even more worried about. He reached for Spock's hand and Spock held his hand gently. That helped. Perhaps things would get better. Perhaps things would be alright.