Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me, but to Gene Roddenberry, Paramount Pictures, etc.

Author's Notes: Thank you so much everyone for all of your enthusiasm over this story. This chapter is (part of) a belated birthday present for my amazing beta, Lisa. Enjoy!

The Opposite of Logic

by Kristen Elizabeth

Two weeks after Grayson's birth, Uhura stood in front of the door to Kirk's quarters, waiting for him to answer her chime. As she waited, she smoothed down the front of the loose, gauzy dress that she wore as she was still on medical leave and nowhere near back to her pre-pregnancy weight. It felt strange to be on the ship and not be in her uniform, like she was a civilian just along for the ride.

She didn't like it.

Kirk answered after a minute, still tugging on a shirt. In the past, she might have expected a scantily clad woman to be just behind him, pulling on enough clothes to make a hasty exit, but now she had a feeling that she'd interrupted nothing more than sleep. Commanding the Enterprise, being in charge of so many lives, having so much responsibility on his shoulders had changed Jim Kirk.

At least somewhat. She could name at least one planet on which he was no longer welcome due to a harem brawl in the royal court that had broken out after their visit. He had disavowed all knowledge, but somehow, being responsible for a massive blue-skinned cat-fight had only elevated his standing with the men of the ship.

"Liuetenant." He was bleary-eyed as he asked, "Why aren't you in bed, resting?"

"Because if I rest any more I'm going to go insane," she swore. "I want to go back on duty."

Kirk squinted at her in the harsh overhead light of the corridor. "What? Are you kidding? You just had a baby, Uhura."

"Maybe not full duty, okay? Just something, Jim. An hour or two here or there. Anything. Please."

Scratching the back of his tousled head, Kirk sighed. "Let's not talk about this in the hall, okay?" Stepping back, he gestured for her to follow him inside. Once the door closed, he asked, "What's Spock got to say about this?"

Her eyes narrowed. "This is my decision and he'll support it."

"If he knows what's good for him?" The captain smirked. "Do I sense something else going on here? Trouble in paradise?"

"Don't dramatize," Uhura snapped. "It's merely a...difference of opinion that we're having."

"Hmm." Sitting on the edge of his unmade bed, Kirk asked, "Why don't you tell me your side of it, then?"

Uhura folded her arms like a shield. "I want to raise Grayson on the Enterprise."

Kirk blinked. "I see. And Spock..."

"Wants us to return to Earth."

"Probably the logical choice," Kirk said. Before she could explode, he held up his hands. "Hey! I'm not agreeing with him...not by a long shot! You think I want to lose my first officer and the best communications operator in the fleet at the same time?"

"That's exactly what I told him, but he thinks it's too dangerous here."

"Well, it is." Once again, he had to quickly continue in order to spare himself her wrath. "Just hear me out, okay? You know better than anyone that this ship is a battleship. That's why we all wanted this assignment: to be on the front lines where the action is. We know the risks, we accepted the consequences..." Kirk hesitated. "Grayson didn't make that choice. But if something did happen to us...Klingon attack, alien virus, another quantum filament...he'd still suffer for it."

As much as she wanted to argue this, Uhura couldn't deny that, as was his annoying way, Kirk was right. "I don't know what to do, Jim," she said after a minute. "Is there even a way to win this one?"

"I really want to say there is, but..." Trailing off, Kirk lifted his shoulders.

Uhura shook her head. "I won't put my baby's life in danger." Her eyes smarted with hot tears. "But I also can't imagine leaving the Enterprise." Her attempt at a chuckle fell flat. "Can't you just order us to go or to stay...just so we don't have to decide?"

"Yeah, there's no way I'm getting in the middle of this."

"That'd be a first," she muttered. Off his offended look, she scowled, "I know you had something to do with him coming back. I just haven't figured out how yet. He swears you didn't tell him."

"If you do figure it out, I wanna know," Kirk said with frown of his own. "Since the universe hasn't succumbed to a massive paradox yet."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing. Look." Standing up, Kirk grasped her shoulders gently. "You're still recovering from a tough birth. You're adjusting to a new baby. You and Spock are still working through a lot of stuff, even though his whole marriage contract thing is officially over. So maybe right now isn't the best time to be making such a big decision."

Uhura sniffed. "If I'm too emotional and he's not emotional enough...what are we going to do?"

With a sigh, Kirk pulled her into a hug. "Beats the hell out of me." It took her a second to relax, but finally she laid her cheek on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, though," he told her. "One way or another."

"Jim," she said after a long minute. "I haven't thanked you yet."

"For what?"

Uhura pushed him away. "You would make me spell it out, wouldn't you?"

He laughed. "You're welcome." More seriously, he added, "Really. Anytime you need me...I'm there."

She laid her hand against his cheek. "Goodnight." At the door, she added a very sassy, "Captain."

After she was gone, he let out a pent-up breath, rubbed his hand against the place where she'd rested her palm, and headed back to bed.

Almost from the moment Uhura had left their quarters claiming she needed a walk around the ship to clear her mind, Grayson had been crying.

And Spock had no idea why.

He had just been fed. His diaper was dry. If he'd been tired, he would have just fallen asleep. The room temperature was neither too hot, nor too cold for the soft cotton jumper in which Uhura had him dressed. There did not appear to be a single, logical reason for his screams.

Perhaps he required some sort of calming device, such as music. Picking Grayson up from his crib, Spock said, "Computer, play Tovat's Vulcan lute recording on low volume."

The melody of harp notes didn't have the right effect, however. Grayson's cries only magnified. His tiny face was almost purple with the effort it took to keep screaming.

"Computer, stop." Spock thought for a second, hard to do over the sound of his son's tirade. "Play Brahm's Lullaby on the cello, low volume."

"That's his favorite." He hadn't even heard the door open as Uhura returned, but she stood in the doorway, watching them. "He's cranky because he got his first immunization hypos earlier."

Spock frowned. "I was not aware he had an appointment today."

"I thought his heart rate was too high, so I took him down to Sickbay. While we were there, Dr. McCoy decided he'd gained enough weight to have the hypos." She came all the way into the room, letting the doors close behind her. "I should have pulled you off the bridge. I'm sorry."

"Is there a problem with his heart?"

She shook her head. "Not for someone who's a quarter Vulcan. I forget how fast yours beats." Approaching them, she reached for Grayson. "I know you're sore, sweetheart," she soothed the baby. "It'll pass soon, Mommy promises."

In between sobs, Grayson hiccuped.

"Nyota." His hands now empty, Spock folded them behind his back. "I feel that the...discussion we had this morning-"

"Fight, Spock." Gently jostling their son, she reminded him, "It was a fight. I don't like admitting it any more than you do, but denying it just isn't logical."

"We have never fought before."

"So you might say we're overdue." When his brow furred in confusion, Uhura clarified, "We're not always going to agree on everything and that's okay. It would be boring if we did."

"But this is a very important issue over which we are in disagreement," Spock pointed out. Uhura nodded ever so slightly. "I understand your wish to stay aboard the Enterprise. I share that desire. With that being said, however, our lives have permanently changed and we no longer have the luxury of considering only our own desires, Nyota."

"I know." She looked down at Grayson. His cries were tapering off as his eyelids grew heavy with exhaustion. "He comes first from now on."

"Perhaps if this was a research vessel or we were assigned to a station or an outpost, our situation would be different, but we are not. We serve aboard the flagship of the Federation. As it stands, raising our son safely on Earth is the most viable option."

Uhura worked her lower lip between her teeth as she continued to rock Grayson to sleep. "I want you to know, I understand what you're saying, and on some level, I agree with it. But I also want you to consider this...and please forgive me for having to say it all." She paused. "How many Vulcan children were lost while they were supposedly safe on their own planet?"

Spock stared at her for a long minute. "I believe you have made your point."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "That wasn't fair."

"It was a valid observation that pertains to our discussion."

"That doesn't make it okay." As Grayson was finally, blissfully asleep, Uhura laid him down his crib and moved Chekov's stuffed bear closer to his little body. Straightening up, she turned to Spock. "I just want you to remember that anything can happen to anyone at any time. There is no such thing as absolute safety."

Spock inclined his chin. "Yes, but there are choices that are riskier than others and it is only logical to make decisions based upon which choice carries the least risk."

"And you think the least risky choice is Earth?"

"I believe it is, yes."

With her hands on her hips, Uhura looked away from him. "What would we do there? Everything we've both been working towards is here, on the Enterprise."

"There is the Academy or Starfleet Command. I am not suggesting that we give up our careers, Nyota, merely that we adjust our lives to accomodate our son's needs."

When she felt his hands on her shoulders, Nyota closed her eyes. "All right." Unable to resist his touch, she let him pull her into his arms and even went so far as to turn her face into his neck. "Maybe we can try it for a year. Two at the most. See what happens. But if it doesn't work out..."

"The Enterprise will be waiting," he promised. Spock tilted her head back to look in her eyes. "Before we leave the ship, there is one thing I would like for us to do."

She reached up to touch the triangle of dark hair at his temple. "What's that?"

Kirk felt like he'd been punched in the face. "You want me to do what?"

Standing in front of his friend, Spock lifted an eyebrow. "Do you not have the authority to do this by right of your position as captain of this vessel?"

"Of course. But I..." Kirk shook his head back and forth. "I just never thought I'd, you know, be called on to use it." He hesitated. "Not for you, anyway. I mean...don't you want one of your Elders to do it?"

"Jim." Spock's voice was soft, almost reverent. "I have already done this the Vulcan way. I would rather not have the same experience with Nyota."

Drawing in a deep, fortifying breath, Kirk let it out in a great woosh a second later. "Okay," he finally said.

"You will, then?"

"Yeah. Yes." Folding his arms over his chest, Kirk nodded with just a touch of reluctance. "I'll marry the two of you."

To Be Continued