Halloween on the NX-01 was a festival of scary movies, orange and dark-colored foods and pumpkins scattered throughout the ship, although none of them were carved. That would have been a waste of food. Plus they could not create lit jack-o'-lanterns without it being a fire hazard. But things were still festive.
Lili – hugely pregnant – had been pressed into service in the schoolroom, in order to help teach a class.
"Can anybody tell me," she asked the children, "why we dress up in costumes?"
There were eighteen children of various ages and looks. They all glanced around a bit.
"Well, a big part of the reason is because, during this time of year, in Earth's northern hemisphere, it's getting kinda dark and cold. It's pretty close to halfway between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice," Lili explained.
A little girl – half-Ikaaran and half-human – raised her hand eagerly. "Yes, Miss Shapiro?"
"We also celebrate the harvest," reported Rachel Shapiro.
"That's very good," praised their teacher, Victoria Dietrich Reilly.
"Any other reason?" Lili asked.
"Mrs. Torres?" asked a young boy, who was also half-human and half-Ikaaran.
"Yes, AG?"
"Mrs. Torres," AG Archer asked, "why is your belly wet?" He pointed.
Victoria looked at Lili. "I think your water broke."
"Holy cow!" Lili exclaimed, "Uh, we'll finish our talk some other time. I guess I'll call José and go to Sick Bay, eh?" She smiled at the class. "One more student is on his or her way today."
José got to the school room as quickly as he could. Josh Rosen was with him. "Now I know why you're here," Lili told José, "but Josh? Uh, didn't you do this for the second time a coupla months ago?"
"I'm here to get the other end of the stretcher."
"Stretcher?" Lili was incredulous. "But I can walk."
José shook his head. "Please, but no. I, I need for you to let us carry you."
"But –" she then noticed just how serious he was. "Of course."
The class watched as Lili was carried out. As the doors swished closed, one of the children, Grace Phlox, asked, "Will this be on the test?"
=/\=
In Sick Bay, Andrew finished splinting Walter Woods's broken arm and turned to Lili as Diana fed the animals. "Aha! I see you're rarin' to go. How are the labor pains?"
"I don't seem to have any."
"What?"
"I feel fine. I feel a little weird, but I've been feeling weird all month. But I don't seem to have any pain whatsoever."
"Phlox, what do you think?" Andrew asked.
"Let's have a look," decided the Denobulan. Lili was helped onto the movable scanner bed. Phlox worked the controls to slide it into the imaging chamber. He fiddled with more controls once she was inside, and frowned.
"What's going on, Doctor?" José asked, a little panicky.
"We don't seem to have had much progression." He began to bring the scanner bed out of the imaging chamber. "You, see, once the amniotic sac has ruptured – this is colloquially known as 'water breaking' – the fetus should be down and in position. There should be cervical dilation as well. But in this case, it's minimal. Andrew, what say you?"
"I think we need to do a Cesarean."
"A Cesarean?!" José was alarmed. "Surely there is some other way!"
"No," Andrew confirmed, "Now, we need to do this."
"But –"
"Step aside," the Denobulan was rather firm.
"Understand this, Doctor," José was suddenly very assertive, "you may perform such operations every day. But this is our first time!"
"Please, Buddy," Andy put a hand on José's arm.
José jerked it away. "You don't get it! If she, if Lili, if Lili does not make it, how can I tell her everything?" He was practically in tears.
Lili stated, "I'll be all right. Really, I will. I swear."
He leaned over and kissed her. "I will stay here, I swear."
"It's gonna be okay," she assured him.
"José," Andrew tried again, "the last thing Lili needs is to be stressed out by this."
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah." Calm again, he stepped back.
Andrew approached Lili with a mask. "I'll give you a shot. Then I'll put this on. See? It's nothing to be afraid of."
"Andrew," she told him quietly, "I talk in my sleep."
"Well, only the mask will hear you."
"Andy," she was a little more insistent, and beckoned him to come closer. He did, so she added even more quietly, "If you have to choose, choose the baby, every time. Understand?"
He nodded as he gave her an injection. "Now, I want you to count backwards from one hundred, by threes."
"One hundred, ninety-seven, ninety-four, ninety-one …"
=/\=
It was like a medical team. Four men, all in identical white surgical masks and soft caps, with marching gloves and dark blue – almost indigo – medical scrubs stood around Lili's bed. Two of the men were taller than the other two.
Lili looked at them. "Wha–?"
One of the shorter doctors removed his mask and, while his face was a little obscured with a greyish film, he could still be readily identified. He smiled at her.
"Ian!"
"Yes, yes, that's right. We're here to help you through this."
"So you," she lightly touched the arm of the other short doctor, "are Malcolm." There was a quick nod but no other acknowledgment. "I guess you aren't allowed to communicate with me."
"That's correct," Ian confirmed, "it's a condition. We can all be here, and our faces are far less obscured than normal, but I am the only one permitted to speak and be truly unmasked."
"I see. Still, I'm thrilled to see all of you." She touched the hand of one of the taller masked men. "Jay?" He shook his head. "Then you are Jay's counterpart, Doug, right?"
There was a nod. "I know, deep in my heart," she told him, "that I will love you." He looked down. His eyes were just slits, barely visible, between the surgical mask and the outfit's cap. "Are you all right? Is he, Ian?"
"Look," was all that Ian said.
Doug took her hand and traced a gloved finger on her palm. "O-C-T-O-B-E-R-2-1-5-7," Lili read aloud. "Only a hundred and fourteen years from now, eh? I know I will never want to hurt you." Seemingly overcome again, he withdrew, and took a spot at the head of the surgical bed she was lying on.
Then it was the next taller man. "Jay," she called out softly. He nodded. He, too, traced in her palm and she recited the letters aloud, "S-P-A-R-R-O-W." She smiled. "You are the Blue Jay." He too, seemed to be overcome, and stepped to one side.
Then it was the short, masked man. "Malcolm," she murmured softly, and then she recited his traced letters. "I-T," a pause, "I-S," another short pause, "R-I-G-H-T." She looked up at him. "Yes," she confirmed, "It was and is, and always will be, right."
He, too, went to the side, opposite to Jay. "Ian," Lili called.
"Yes?"
"What is the doctor doing right now?"
"May I, uh, may I touch you a moment?"
"Of course. You don't need to ask."
"I do, actually," Ian stated. He pointed his right begloved index finger at her abdomen, and it glowed a little when he made contact with her bare skin. "Andrew, actually, is cutting right here." He traced along, just at the hairline.
"Oh," Lili stated, "I'm glad I'm not feeling that. Is the baby all right?"
"Most definitely. They'll also take an ovarian scan."
"Really?"
"Yes, it's to see if you can have any more children, but I can tell you now that this is it. This is your final egg."
"Wow. In right under the wire, eh?"
"There's something about that egg. In the first iteration, that egg is your child with Malcolm, Pamela Morgan. And in the prime timeline, that egg also becomes your child with Malcolm. But in that case, that's your younger son, Declan."
"And this child?"
"Some things are best left as a surprise," Ian told her.
"Can you tell me about those other two at least?"
"I can tell you of them and their total of four siblings where you are the mother, all right? In the prime timeline, your first child is your son, Jeremiah Logan. He looks exactly like Doug." Doug came forward for a second and she touched his hand. "Your second child is your daughter together, Marie Patrice."
"So she's named for my parents."
"Yes, and Jeremiah is named for Doug's parents. Jeremiah becomes a veterinarian; he marries and makes you a grandmother. Marie Patrice becomes a fashion designer but never weds and has no children of her own, but she's a wonderful aunt. Her looks are somewhat like your mother, but she, too, has Doug's eyes."
"And Declan?"
"He has your eyes and light coloring, but everything else is Malcolm's. His second marriage is a good one, but that happens after you have passed. He has two sons, and he becomes an artist."
"I wish I could know them. What about the other three?"
"In the first kick back," Ian explained, "the first child is also a son named Jeremiah Logan, and he, too, is the spitting image of his father. But he is Jay's. He follows in your footsteps and becomes the NX-01's chef."
"I'm glad someone can cook."
Jay stepped forward, and she felt his hand on her shoulder. "You also have a daughter together, Madeline Suzette. She becomes the Tactical Officer. And your Pamela," this time, Malcolm came forward, and she took his hand, "she succeeds Phlox as the ship's Chief Medical Officer."
"More lives that I wish I really could get a chance to know."
"You will when you get to the afterworld," Ian told her.
"The afterworld – it's kinda heaven, kinda not, eh?"
"More or less," he confirmed, "they are very nearly finished."
"When will I see you again?" Lili asked.
"This child will be nearly seventeen years old. We will miss you."
=/\=
There was the sound of a baby wailing. As Lili watched, Doug, at the head of the bed, turned into Andrew. Jay, on the left, turned into Doctor Phlox. On the right, Malcolm became Diana. And at the foot of the bed, where Ian had been, there was José, holding a bundle.
All of the previous players were forgotten. Diana applied a numbing gel to the site of Lili's incision. "There ya go," she reported, "just as good as new."
"Thank you," Lili whispered hoarsely.
The baby cried a bit more. José came over. "A girl needs her mother."
"A girl!" Lili exclaimed. She peered over. "She looks exactly like you, José."
"Well, I see my mother in her, too," he handed her to Lili.
"Maria Elena," Lili whispered. She began to sing and the baby immediately quieted down and listened.
"Like minutes are to an hour
Darling, so you are to me...
Maria Elena, you're the answer to a prayer
Maria Elena, can't you see how much I care?
To me your voice is like the echo of a sigh
And when you're near my heart can't speak above a sigh
Maria Elena, say that we will never part
Maria Elena, take me to your heart
A love like mine is great enough for two
To share this love is really all I ask of you
Maria Elena, say that we will never part
Maria Elena, take me to your heart
A love like mine is great enough for two
To share this love is really all I ask of you
Tuyo es mi corazón
Oh sol de mi querer
Mujer de mi ilusión
Mi amor te con sagré
Mi vida da la embellece una esperanza azul
Mi vida tiene un cielo que le diste tu
Tuyo es mi corazón
Oh sol de mi querer
Tuyo es todo mi ser tuyo es mujer
Yo todo el corazón te lo entregué
Eres mi fé, eres mi Dios, eres mi amor"
=/\=
On the Bridge, T'Pol peered into the scope at the Science station. "I don't understand this."
"Is there some trouble?" Captain Archer asked.
"No," replied the Vulcan, but she remained somewhat distracted, it seemed.
"Something wrong, Commander?" repeated the captain.
"It is all right," she reported, "Might I take a short respite?"
"By all means," agreed the captain, "Maryam, can you get Ethan Novakovich in here to man the Science station?"
"Right away, sir."
T'Pol left the Bridge and entered the lift. She stopped it between decks and flipped open her communicator. "T'Pol to Lieutenant Torres."
There was a communications chirp in Sick Bay. "You don't need to get that," José told her.
"I know," Lili replied, "but maybe the boys forgot how to make toast, or something. Besides, I'll need to answer it eventually, anyway." Maria Elena was nursing and did not seem affected by the exchange. Lili adjusted her daughter and flipped open her communicator. "Lili Torres here."
"Lieutenant," was the Vulcan reply, "is there any real chocolate available?"
"I, uh, I don't know."
"How is it possible that you do not know?"
"I, I just don't know, Commander. I'm in Sick Bay."
T'Pol was confused for a moment. "There is chocolate in Sick Bay?"
"Huh? I'm in Sick Bay because I just had my daughter," Lili looked down at Maria Elena and kissed the tiny infant's forehead.
"Oh. Then, congratulations."
"Thank you. Tell you what – call Craig Willets. I'm sure he can get you some chocolate."
"What if there isn't any?" There was a tinge of fear creeping into T'Pol's voice.
"Then he'll replicate you some more."
"But I want real chocolate!"
"Commander," Lili explained, "nobody's eaten any real chocolate around here for about two years."
"But I want chocolate!"
Maria Elena finished up and so Lili needed to burp her. "Look, I gotta go. I'm sorry. Call Craig, all right? O'Day – I mean Torres – out." José took the communicator from her as she gently rubbed the baby's back. When the infant let out a small burp, Lili looked at her daughter and smiled. "That was epic! Now, you'll probably wanna nap. I know I do."
"T'Pol sounded pretty out of it from what I could overhear," Diana interjected, "er, sorry, but I did hear."
"That's okay," Lili replied, "do you think something's wrong with her?"
There was a communications chime. Phlox answered it at the wall-mounted unit. "Sick Bay, Phlox here."
It was Hoshi. "Commander T'Pol just came back here from a short break and seemed to be a bit unhinged. Eddie Hamboyan and Frank Todd are bringing her over."
"Understood. We will be ready. Phlox out."
"You'll be busy," Lili concluded, "if, uh, if we can get someone else to take the other end of the stretcher, is it okay if the three of us just go home?"
"I don't see any reason why not," replied the Denobulan. "Contact me if there are any problems."
The doors swished open, and Frank Todd and Eddie Hamboyan had a rather pale T'Pol between them. "Frank," José asked, "do you mind helping me get Lili and Maria Elena home?"
"Uh, am I needed here for anything, Doc?"
"I don't imagine you are."
The two men hoisted up a stretcher bearing Lili and Maria Elena. En route, Lili contacted Craig. "Bring a thermos of hot chocolate to Sick Bay, okay?"
"Er, sure," replied the Food Service Ensign.
=/\=
At home in their quarters, the three of them settled in for the night. "I, uh, I'll call Delacroix and Willets," José offered, "see if I can get you something to go."
"Oh! Thank you – I almost forgot to eat."
"Silly girl. Uh, Lili, before I do?"
"Hmm?"
He knelt at the side of the bed as she lay there holding Maria Elena. "Thank you for, for everything. For putting up with me."
"José, it should be the other way around. You've been so patient with me; a lot more than many other men would have been."
"I know this is not what you planned or prepared for or, or wanted," he told her, "but it is exactly what I have always wanted."
Before she could respond, he got up and quickly departed, overcome. The baby fussed a little and she did not have a moment to herself to really think about what he had told her.
=/\=
Craig fulfilled the strange order for hot chocolate while the doors in the galley swished open. "How's she doin'?" he asked once he saw José.
"Mother and baby are, as they say, resting comfortably."
"Oh, that's terrific! Boy or girl?"
"Maria Elena," José reported proudly.
"Is she still in Sick Bay? I figure this cocoa is for her."
"No, they are at home. I believe the cocoa is for Commander T'Pol."
"Aha. And what can I get for you?"
"Foods she really likes."
Craig put together a dish of sliced procul with gravy, baked sweet potato wedges, snow peas and carrots and a dollop of puréed cauliflower with a little cheddar cheese. He got together silverware and a napkin and covered the plate. "Here ya go. Can I bring over dessert and see the little one then?"
"Of course. Maybe your son will like her."
"Jeris isn't even a year old. So I wouldn't be thinking about that just yet."
=/\=
In Sick Bay, T'Pol fretted and paced, no matter how much Phlox and Tripp tried to calm her down. The doors opened, and they, along with Andrew and Diana, all turned as one.
It was Craig. "Somebody wanted cocoa?" He presented the thermos. T'Pol grabbed it greedily and fumbled with the cap in her haste. He opened it for her.
She chugged it all in one shot. "More."
"I'll go replicate some," Craig turned to leave.
"I will assist," T'Pol offered.
"Oh, no, ya don't!" Tripp called out, "Doc's gotta look ya over."
"I am fine. I just want chocolate!" She began to follow Craig out.
Tripp made as if to follow his wife, but Phlox put a hand on his arm. "Shouldn't we go after her?"
"In perhaps a half an hour if she has not returned by then," replied the Denobulan.
"Whadda we do 'til then?"
"I'm thinking we contact Captain Archer," Andy stated, "'cause I get the feeling we'll be relieving her of duty. Novakovich and Warren-Dane should be able to fill in, right?"
"I'm just worried," Tripp confessed.
"I'll go after her," Diana volunteered. "I'll stay out of her way, for the most part. I'm sure she'll figure out on her own that she needs to get back here."
"Thanks," Tripp muttered as she departed.
=/\=
Craig saw Dakiza and little Jeris as he was walking down the hall. "Hey! How's my big boy?"
"Getting into a little mischief," Dakiza replied as they ducked into an empty lab.
"Lili had a girl," Craig reported, "so maybe he'll have a girlfriend now."
"You start them so young!" Dakiza laughed.
"I meant to ask you," Craig grew serious for a moment, "but how have you been feeling?"
"Feeling?"
"You know, I mean, about the decline."
"It does not seem to be happening at all," the Ikaaran stated. "I cannot tell if it is cured for good, or merely dormant. But right now," she kissed him, "I feel wonderful."
"Me, too."
=/\=
T'Pol made her way to the galley. She found Brian in there, alone. He was plucking the dead leaves off the various herb plants. He looked up when the doors opened. "Commander?"
She came too close, invading his personal space. "You have chocolate?"
"I can replicate some."
"Good," she ran a finger along the back of his neck. "I am craving it."
"I, uh, here, I'll make you some." He eluded her grasp and brought a small plate over to the replicator.
"How does this device work?"
"I, uh, yanno, I'm not sure. Willets is the engineer," he confessed.
"It is a fascinating device, operated by a fascinating man." She touched his face. "It converts raw carbohydrates and proteins and fats into chocolate. Did you know that chocolate contains a compound known as theobromine? That term is Greek for food of the gods." She blew a little on his neck.
He jumped a bit. "I, uh, I didn't know that," Brian honestly admitted, trying to think of how to get her off his back.
"There are many things I could teach you. You and I, we do not speak that frequently."
"No, uh, Commander, we don't."
She slid her arms around his waist. With her lips very close to his ear, she whispered, "I feel you are the only one who understands me."
The doors opened; it was Diana. She took one look at them and, in a singsong voice, asked, "Whatcha doin'?"
Brian sprang away from T'Pol as quickly as he could. "I, uh, I'm replicating the Commander here some chocolate." He fumbled with the controls. "Uh, milk or dark?"
"What do you suggest?" Ignoring Diana's presence, T'Pol approached him again.
"Give her dark chocolate; the milk kind isn't vegan," Diana explained. Turning to T'Pol, she added, "Now, Commander …"
"Leave us alone!"
Diana sprang back. She had not been expecting that sort of a reaction. "Excuse me?" she asked.
"Leave!" T'Pol commanded, yelling.
"You're impaired," Diana concluded. She flipped open her communicator. "Jones to Phlox."
The Vulcan batted the communicator out of her hands and it hit the kitchen floor with a loud clatter. "Get out or you're next!"
Diana and Brian looked at each other for a split second, both of them trying to figure out how to defuse the situation. "Uh, Commander?" Brian asked, "Don't you want your chocolate?" He had a big bar of it on the plate. "It looks really good." He turned so as to draw her attention away from Diana.
Diana lunged at the communicator and yelled into it. "I need two or three MACOs in the kitchen right now!"
Enraged, T'Pol raised a hand as if to strike her. But suddenly she realized what she was doing, and instead swatted a canister full of flour off the counter. It landed in a white cloud that made all three of them cough.
"C-Commander?" Brian asked.
"Call me T'Pol."
"Uh, Commander? We need to get Doctor Phlox here. I'm sure you're not feeling well."
The door opened, and it was Julie McKenzie Mayweather, Eddie Hamboyan and Neil Kemper. Behind them, panting from running was Doctor Phlox. And behind him were Captain Archer and Tripp.
"It is my considered medical opinion," Phlox stated after glancing at the befloured Vulcan, "that Commander T'Pol is currently not fit for duty."
That seemed to snap her out of it. "I, Diana could have been injured. You are correct. I am not well. Tripp," she was teary suddenly, "do you love me?"
"Uh, 'course I do. You know I do."
"I, oh God, it is like at Pon Farr. I am not fit for duty. I will confine myself to quarters for the duration of my pregnancy."
"That's over a year from now, right, Doc?" Tripp asked.
"By my understanding, yes."
"Then, uh," Tripp made the decision, "I think this is gonna be our one and only child. I can't see doin' this again."
=/\=
Craig came over with Dakiza and little Jeris, and Brian arrived with Izquilla and their daughter, Amy. Craig had a bag in his hands. "We brought you this, Boss, a little something from Food Service." He presented the bag to José as Lili held Maria Elena.
José opened the bag. "It's salame de chocolate! And this, I think this is yours." He took out a large brioche and showed it to Lili.
"Oh, how terrific! And how did you guys know to make a Portuguese chocolate salami?" she asked.
"We looked up Portuguese sweets in the database," Brian explained, "Couldn't give you one without the other."
The door chimed and Izquilla opened the door to Jenny and Aidan with their five-year-old son, Steven. Steven had a stuffed toy with him. "Uh, this is for the baby," he presented it, "I'm too grown-up for it." José put the bag down and took the little toy – it was a stuffed dinosaur – from him.
"Everybody should have some of the sweets," Lili smiled as she got a little emotional, "and I want to thank you all for coming. You're our very best friends in the whole wide world."
=/\=
Aidan MacKenzie's Personal Log, October thirty-first, 2043
I guess everything comes full circle if you wait long enough, eh? Then again, this really will come full circle. If we are all born again in this iteration, we'll have another instant replay.
But in the meantime, I see my son growing up and now José and Lili have one of their own. And I think of Jennifer and how our lives have turned out. There is a lot wrong with this time. We don't belong here. Our parents are, for all intents and purposes, gone, as if they had all died in some disaster. And the Earth is again off-limits. So that is a part of that same disaster.
But there is a lot that is right with this time. We are together. We are parents. I am more trusted than I ever have been, although a lot of that is due to Lieutenant Reed's untimely death. I do regret that. Lili still does, too, I think.
=/\=
Jonathan Archer's Personal Log, October thirty-first, 2043
And now my Science Officer is down for the count. Apparently last time around, it happened a lot more quickly. I suppose I should be grateful for small miracles. Nyota Warren-Dane and Ethan Novakovich will fill in. We will all soldier on, like we always do, it seems.
=/\=
José Torres's Personal Log, October thirty-first, 2043
Maria Elena has arrived. Good. I had not wanted to see a Marquez Jaco. Naming a son after them seemed like a good idea but I'm glad the baby had other plans. I don't know what I was thinking.
Jenny and Craig and Brian and their families all came to congratulate us and meet Maria Elena. Lili said they are our best friends. And she is right. I suppose I can die happy now.