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"Roxanne-"
"I've made my decision, Solok. Starfleet isn't my place, and I'll be better off if I'm free to raise a kid. Later, when our kid is older, I can apply for school elsewhere. But I know this is right."
She watched him eye her incredulously, but she folded her arms across her chest, as if daring him to argue.
"Very well," he admitted finally. His gaze drifted down to her swelling stomach. A check-up with the doctor had confirmed that the baby was healthy, and growing quickly.
"I'm getting a chunky monkey," she said, stroking her belly. Solok frowned.
"You are giving birth to-"
"Why do I even bother?"
"Have you told your parents yet?" she asked.
"No. Have you informed yours?"
Roxanne sat down on her bed. "No. I'm calling my mother this weekend."
"How do you think she will react to the news?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Seriously, I couldn't tell you. I know Dad will be disappointed."
"Why?"
Roxanne shook her head. "He's always been strict about my grades and stuff. I went into security because that was what he did, but he...nevermind."
Solok sat beside her and caressed her shoulder. "Tell me, ashaya."
She took in a shuddering breath, then wrapped her arms tighter around herself. "I feel like he's never happy with me. Like he's always finding something to criticize. I'm not even sure I want to see him or tell him."
"He is this child's grandparent."
"And though I hate to exclude him, I have the right to do so. This isn't his kid."
"Are you going to exclude my parents as well, should they disapprove?"
"They're your parents. You decide."
He raised an eyebrow and held her closer. "Roxanne...there is something we must discuss."
She glanced up at him, gesturing for him to speak.
"How are we going to raise this child? As in, will they be Vulcan, and follow the Vulcan path? Or the human way?"
She sighed. "Why not both? The Vulcan way is tough, but I guess it would be better for their education to be Vulcan, at least. But they're also human. Humans need to express their emotions, and they shouldn't be ridiculed for it. It's our way. Does our different approach make our way invalid?"
He stared down at her. "You have longed to say that for a long time, have you not?"
She leaned up and nipped at the point of his ear. "Oh, you know I have."
She clamped her teeth over his ear and licked over its edge, and he gasped.
"Ashaya, I did not realize your anger could manifest itself...like this...I am confused."
"You're no the only one," she growled, digging her nails into his shoulder.
"Roxanne," he breathed. "There is one other thing we will need to discuss...you have asked about it before, and soon I must tell you...but not today. Today, we decide how to raise our child."
She leaned against him. "I think I'd like some more information first. You know what would be really awesome..."
He frowned slightly. "Yes?"
She grinned. "If I could talk to Ambassador Spock."
She was only being facetious, but he looked pensive.
"Solok?"
He gazed at her, that now-familiar gleam of mischief in his eyes. "That can be arranged."
…
It was fortunate, Solok thought, that the ambassador was on Earth, at a summit regarding the entrance of the Delos-Maur system into the Federation.
He found Spock talking to an Andorian ambassador, but he hung back, waiting to be acknowledged.
Spock seemed to note the cadet's presence in the background, and his conversation with the Andorian ended soon.
The ambassador considered him for a moment. "Solok, Sovar's son."
He raised his eyebrows in surprise, then nodded in affirmation. "I am. Could I arrange an appointment with you, Osu?"
Spock raised an ash-gray eyebrow. "That would depend on when."
"This coming weekend, perhaps? My telsu wishes to ask you some questions."
"For what purpose?"
"I believe she would like information on your upbringing as a Vulcan-human hybrid."
Spock paused. "Your telsu is human, then?"
"Yes. We attend the Academy together."
"Fascinating," the ambassador remarked. "I never would have thought Sovar's son to choose a human mate."
"Neither did Sovar's son," he replied dryly. Solok thought he saw a hint of a smile on Spock's lips.
"You've already picked up some of her humor, I see."
"She does seem to have a proclivity towards employing dry wit," he admitted.
"It appeals to me," Spock said thoughtfully. "I will meet you and her this weekend...Saturday evening, 1800 hours. At the Launching Pad. I wouldn't expect a Vulcan your age to want to visit such a place, but if it isn't too much trouble...?"
Solok couldn't help but smirk. "I do know the place. Thank you, ambassador."
…
Roxanne smoothed her uniform when she noted the ambassador across the bar, and she followed Solok to his table.
"Ambassador?"
Spock set his eyes on Roxanne.
"May I introduce my telsu, Roxanne Hartman?"
The elderly Vulcan bowed his head to her and gestured to the seat across from him.
"How are you feeling?" Spock asked, and she was taken aback. Was her condition that evident?
"Your hand," he explained. "It rests on your belly. My mother did that when she was pregnant with me, or so my father tells me."
"Ok," she said, glancing at Solok. Spock was a celebrated ambassador, and she had no idea how to talk to him.
"Your child is a hybrid? Is it healthy?" the elderly Vulcan asked. Roxanne smiled politely.
"Yes, to both questions."
Spock's brown eyes twinkled. "It was only logical to deduce that you were pregnant, or at the very least trying to get pregnant. Why else would you be asking about my upbringing when you have a Vulcan fiance?" He paused. "Tell me, Ms. Hartman...how are you feeling?"
She blinked. "Tired," she replied. "But ok."
"My mother said her first trimester was quite taxing on her. But she also said she felt wonderful during her second."
"We're not quite there yet," she said with a weary smile.
"Solok said you had questions for me?"
She glanced over at Solok, then swallowed thickly. "Were you teased?" she blurted out. "For being half-human?"
Roxanne thought she could see pain lingering behind his eyes, and he nodded slowly. "Yes. I was often teased for my mother's heritage, and for my father's supposed treason in marrying a human."
"But there were other mixed marriages out there at that time, right?" she pressed. He nodded in affirmation.
"Yes, but due to my father's bloodline, coming from Surak himself, most Vulcans saw...sullying that bloodline with human DNA to be a travesty."
"Why?" she asked. She could feel Solok's thigh pressing into hers.
"Because they do not understand the IDIC," Solok replied, pulling the locket out from beneath her uniform. She wore it everywhere now; it gave her comfort to think of its meaning.
Spock nodded sagely. "We have long been a hypocritical people, determined to spread logic to all points of the galaxy, saying we are enlightened, and yet shunning everything that is not purely Vulcan."
She looked down at the table, fighting tears. "Was the...birth hard?"
Spock raised an eyebrow. "From what I have heard of other mixed marriages, birthing a hybrid is no harder than birthing a human. Though I should warn you...most women who carry Vulcan children have health problems in the third trimester, so be aware of that."
"Thank you."
"Anything else?"
She swallowed. "What about emotions?"
Spock folded his hands in what she now recognized as the Vulcan way, the tips of his forefingers lightly pressed together. "In my youth, I fought hard to suppress all emotion. Now as I grow older...I find no shame in denying myself of emotion on occasion."
Roxanne bit her lip. "Did you ever tell your mother that you loved her?"
She was almost certain that her question pained him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"
"No, it is a valid question." He paused. "I did not tell her for several years. However, on her deathbed...I told her how much she meant to me. My father was very strict with me concerning emotion, but I am not the only hybrid out there. There are hundreds of others like me. Some have taken the Vulcan path, to great success. Others have found some middle ground. There is no set algorithm to see how the Vulcan and human DNA will mix within your child. They may not even have pointed ears."
She grinned. "My father served with Montgomery Scott's grandson. He said they often teased you about your ears."
Spock's eyes were alight with something akin to pleasure. "Yes, though I was thoroughly convinced they were jealous."
"I think they're nice," she said, not sure where it came from, but she looked sideways at Solok's ears. "I like them...even if you are a pompous idiot sometimes."
Solok raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Spock almost looked amused.
"Is there anything else?"
Roxanne shook her head. "No, I think I've got the answers I needed. Thank you very much for giving up your time to come talk to me...us."
Spock stood. "Then I take my leave of you."
…
Sovar unlocked the door to his home with the stroke of a keypad, and he stepped inside, glancing around for T'Pel. The house was quiet but for a few murmured words, and he followed them to the spacious sitting area in the middle of the home. He frowned, noting T'Pel was sitting across from one of Solok's friends, Tolar.
"Tolar, son of Tolev...a'duna, what is the matter?" He could feel her apprehension through their bond.
Sit down and listen, she said to him, and he obeyed. Tolar bowed his head.
"Ambassador, if Solok has not already informed you of...developments with his...personal life on Earth..."
"He has not. Though I do not recall it being any of your business either," he replied coldly. "If something important had occurred, Solok would inform us."
"I do not mean to insult the ambassador, but you are wrong, Osu."
T'Pel sighed. "Tell him what you told me."
"Solok is seeing a human woman. There is rumor around campus that she is pregnant."
Sovar was silent, pondering his statement. "And who is the father of her child?"
Tolar raised an eyebrow. "Solok, of course."
Sovar remained silent for several minutes, pondering this bit of news. "Who is this human woman?"
"She was in Advanced Calculus with your son, Osu, though they met at the Launching Pad. She is a friend of someone he had a disagreement with. He since convinced her to let him be her tutor. They have been meeting frequently since then, on campus and off. Recently, he went to a New Year's party as her guest."
"So that is why he left early..."
"Sovar," T'Pel began, but he cut her off with a look.
Our son has acted disgracefully, T'Pel. I do not wish to argue, only to speak with him and ascertain how much damage he has done. I am most curious about this...human harlot he has fallen in with.
Human harlot? she asked, her eyes flashing. Solok told me she stirs his katra.
His eyes widened, and he turned to Tolar. "You may go."
When the cadet had left the home, he turned to T'Pel. "You mean to tell me, wife, that you knew about this woman, and didn't think to tell me?"
"I was waiting for him to tell you. It is his bondmate, not mine."
Sovar narrowed his eyes. "What did he tell you about her?"
"Only that he tutored her in Calculus, and that she had red hair. He finds her agreeable, and I look forward to meeting her."
"She is human!"
"She is a member of the Federation, the same Federation whose ideals you uphold. And yet you wish to stand here and denounce all humans when you haven't even met the girl?"
"She is unfit to marry my son!"
"Our son. He dissolved his bond with his former telsu, as you know. He had every right to do so."
"Without consulting with his family first?"
"A woman need not consult her family to call the kal-if-fee. And I trust his judgment. She has changed him."
"That, at least, is true."
"She has changed him for the better. She must have made quite an impression on him to change his view of humans."
"She's corrupting him."
"She is making him less like you," T'Pel said coldly. "I have held my tongue all these years regarding your view of emotional species, and I personally am glad that he has forsaken your views."
Sovar felt as if he had been slapped in the face. "T'Pel..." he murmured, reaching for her face.
"Do not," she warned. "I do not wish your touch this night. Perhaps my abstinence will clear your head."
He watched her leave the room, staring after her like a man struck dumb. He then turned, clenching his fists, and he started making plans to go to Earth.
Solok had much explaining to do.