Here we are with Chapter 3, on time for once.

This chapter is kind of slow moving but does bring some important things to light as far as Koss and T'Pol's relationship goes. The story does pick up the pace after about chapter 5, it's just the first few chapters are spent establishing the situation and the beginning of everything.

Please leave a review as I really enjoy hearing your thoughts and more often then not they make my week!

- Galia

Chapter 3

I was young so I forgot
Which was my place and which was not
Thought I had a good shot
I took it right in my eye

Look ahead, look behind
Take another, I don't mind
I, oh, I, oh

Follow the signs right back to you
Back to you, back to you
I know they wind right back to you
Back to you

"Back To You" by Twin Forks

Trip had spent the rest of the afternoon and evening waiting for 8pm to come, by 7:45 he finds himself pacing back and forth, unable to focus on the work he'd started. He doesn't want to seem overeager and wanted to make himself wait until 8:15 at the latest, so he decides to make himself dinner while he waits.

As he's slipping the frozen pizza into the oven his mind turns back to T'Pol for the millionth time today. Mostly his mind goes back to the fact that she's divorced and it didn't really sound like the separation had been on good terms. Maybe he's imagining things but she'd seemed to have missed him too - if Vulcans miss people that is. He looks back up at the clock 8:05, he could technically call now but he really doesn't want to seem overeager, she might be divorced but she still has two little boys.

The thought of T'Pol as a mother had never really occurred to him, in fact he seemed to recall her having a dislike for children in general. He assumes it's different when they're your own kids, but he has to wonder what Koss did to get her to agree to having them in the first place. It must've been something because the other T'Pol in the expanse had told him he'd spend nearly 5 years convincing her to have Lorian.

The timer pulls him out of his thoughts, his pizza is ready and it's 8:15. He picks up the phone and presses the contact he'd made for her. She picks up almost immediately and he can't help but grin at that.

"Hello?" T'Pol's voice says.

"Hey T'Pol, it's Trip." He says setting the cooking sheet with the pizza on it on top of the stove and closing the oven door.

"Oh, hello Trip." T'Pol says, she almost sounds tired over the phone.

Trip puts the oven mit on the counter and walks over to the couch, leaving the pizza to cool for a few minutes. "So um, how's the rest of your day been?" He says awkwardly, though he's spent all day thinking about her he hasn't actually thought of what he'd say to her once he got to talking to her.

"It's been…" She pauses. "Long."

"That good huh?" Trip chuckles.

"Well, Avarak had a difficult day at school and I've had to make an appointment to speak with his teacher." She explains.

"Ya have huh?" Trip frowns. "He okay?"

"There's a set of twins in his class, they enjoy picking on him. Last week one of them bit him and this week the other is mocking him for his poor English." T'Pol says, he can almost hear the disapproving head tilt over the phone.

"Damn, that's harsh." Trip frowns. "The teacher ain't talked to 'em"

"I believe the parents may be the issue here, but I was hoping the teacher could provide some support in the matter." She explains. "If this was Vulcan both children would be severely punished."

"They're five year old's T'Pol." Trip chuckles.

"And they'd have been suspended if this was Vulcan." T'Pol says matter-of-factory.

"That's a little harsh for kid stuff." Trip frowns.

"They're causing emotional distress, it is not harsh, if the behavior is allowed to continue it will only get worse." She insists. "Any how, I've decided to find an English class for him to take, the one the school provides is good but three hours a week really isn't enough."

"He's only five, doesn't he just pick it up in class?" Trip asks.

"To a degree, but I believe it would give him more confidence if he was improving faster." T'Pol says. "Confidence is already something he lacks."

"Your kid lacks confidence?" Trip chuckles.

"He's also Koss' child, and yes, he's rather… shy." T'Pol says. "His brother on the other hand is typically rather outgoing, almost too out going most of the time."

"A troublemaker?" Trip chuckles. "Most little brothers are."

"I suppose you could say that. More like he's lacking in the self preserving anxieties that keep him from running up to strangers." T'Pol says. "He usually is anyway, he's been clingier since the move but I suspect that will change."

"Kids are adaptable, they'll come around." Trip assures.

"I certainly hope so, it's been a difficult couple of years on them." T'Pol says.

"I'm sure it has." He says. "So have they seen their dad since the move?"

"They haven't seen him since the divorce." T'Pol says quietly.

"Jesus," Trip breathes, running a hand through his hair. "What kind of guy doesn't see his kids for two years?"

T'Pol is quiet for so long he almost worries she's hung up, but then she says. "The same sort who can have an affair while his wife is pregnant."

"Damn T'Pol." He breathes, not really sure how to respond to that. "I'm sorry, he didn't really seem like the sort to, well to do that."

"You didn't know him very well." She says a little coldly.

"I guess I really didn't did I?" Trip scratches the back of his head and sighs. He'd never been fond of Koss but he'd thought that had more to do with Koss being married to T'pol then it did anything actually being wrong with Koss.

"We argued over him seeing the kids but I wasn't going to allow them to live with him and he moved to Gol shortly after the divorce." T'Pol says. "Kuvok was still nursing and Koss didn't really put up much of a fight to begin with."

"I didn't think Vulcans abandoned their kids - though I didn't think they had affairs either." Trip admits.

"He didn't abandon them completely, he calls regularly, but it would be nice if he'd have seen them." He can hear her run a hand through her hair. "The affair is a bit out of the norm for bonded pairs, but Koss and I never bonded."

"Really? But you have two kids…" Trip frowns.

"Be that as it may, sex isn't what bonds couples." T'Pol says. "Though physical touch helps both parties have to be receptive to the bond, and admittedly I never was. Perhaps that's what drove him to have the affair, I never asked, simply filed for the divorce."

"Now hang on." Trip frowns. "It ain't your fault. If he decided he wanted to sleep with someone else instead of try to make it work with you that's on him. Not you."

"Trip, drop it." She says, clearly the conversation had hit a nerve, but it wasn't really his place to begin with.

"OKay," Trip says. "Does the Vulcan compound offer English classes for kids?" Trip asks, trying to turn the conversation back to something they were both more comfortable with.

"The compound doesn't offer any services for children." T'Pol says. "I'm hoping to find a teacher who speaks Vulcan as well, but that's likely going to be difficult."

"Aside from Hoshi I ain't sure I know of anyone else who speaks both English and Vulcan." Trip admits, he assumes if anyone did they're probably in Starfleet anyway. "You might be out of luck on that one.

"I may but it won't hurt to try." T'Pol points out. "Besides it would keep him busy in the evenings, he doesn't have homework and I don't believe that it's good for him to sit idle all evening."

"He's five, I'm sure he entertains himself at least some of the time." Trip says.

"He does, but I think more interaction would be better for him, and it might bring him out of his shell a bit." T'Pol says. "I should be going though, it's late."

Trip looks up at the clock, it's 9:30, hardly late but they've been talking more then an hour and she has two kids he reminds himself, she must be tired. "Okay, um I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?" T'Pol says.

"Do you want to come to lunch on Monday?" He asks, trying to mask the nerves he's feeling.

She's quiet for a moment, as though considering his offer and then she says; "Yes, I would. Where should we meet?"

"Um, how about I pick you up outside your office, there's a restaurant near STC we could go to." Trip grins.

"Very well, I typically have lunch around noon, does that work for you?" She asks.

"Yeah, noon. Just send me your office number and I can pick you up at noon." He offers.

"Office 423." T'Pol says. "Good night Trip."

"Night T'Pol." He says, she hangs up a few seconds later and Trip sets the phone down. He was having lunch with T'Pol, it wasn't a date - at least he hadn't meant it that way - but he fully intended to ask her on one if Monday went well.

Trip stands up and stretches, he needs to get a shower before writing up tomorrow's worksheet. As he shuffles towards the bedroom he spots the frozen pizza he made for dinner, he left it for so long that it had long since gone cold. Grinning broadly he shakes his head and mutters to himself. "That woman still manages to make me forget everything else."

After T'Pol hangs up she gets up to brew a cup of her favorite lavender tea, the conversation had gone on longer then she'd intended, but Trip still had the ability to make her lose track of time at a rather alarming rate. As she leans against the counter and watches the pot absently her mind turns to the topics of conversation. She hadn't intended to tell Trip that much about Koss, that he'd had an affair while she was pregnant with Kuvok, that she'd never bonded with him or that he'd essentially walked out on her and the boys, and yet she'd felt very comfortable doing so.

10 years ago when she first set foot on Enterprise and Trip first walked into her life she'd never expected he'd be the one she'd find herself speaking to about Koss, but even then he'd been easy to talk to. He just had a way of inserting himself into her life that she hadn't expected and it was a skill he still seemed to possess.

The kettle whistling pulls her from her thoughts and she rushes to pull it off the stove before the noise wakes one of the boys. She curls her feet under her as she sits back down in her arm chair and her mind turns back to Trip, did he just asked her on one of the romantic outings humans called a date? And did she agree to it?

The thought alarms her somewhat, but not in the sense she'd have expected. Mostly in the sense that she'd been so forthright about agreeing to something like this, and that she didn't regret it. Of course Trip hadn't said it was a date, but would he? Would he expect her to know without having to say?

'He probably would' she thinks. 'He never has been the best about realizing others don't understand his social norms.'

She decides to wait and see how he behaves on the lunch. She's not opposed to the idea of a romantic outing with him, it has been two years since her divorce - and even longer since she's had anything resembling what Trip called a 'date' - perhaps it's time to give it a try again.

Besides it wasn't like she hadn't thought about him, even while she was married she used to wonder what it would've been like if she'd given Trip more of a chance when she'd had the option. She would admit too to thinking about him even when things were decent between her and Koss, though she had always assumed that was for a certain more primal reason then she'd willingly admit to. It was a bit of a shock to discover that the desire for a more intimate relationship with her friend and former coworker were still very much present.

She pushes these things out of her mind and looks up at the time, it's getting closer to 10 o'clock now, standing up she takes her tea and her book into her bedroom. She turns on the light to discover her Kuvok has crawled in her bed without her noticing and now lays sprawled in the middle of it. She pulls back the blankets and gently moves him over to the side. She turns off the overhead lamp and only leaves the lamp on the night stand on, to illuminate her book.

She's read a few pages when she feels a small body scooting close to her, Kuvok's hazel eyes look up sleepily at her as he cuddles close.

"I hope I did not wake you my child." T'Pol says softly, running her fingers over her son's hair.

"No mother." His sleepy voice mutters, his eyes shut again and his Breathing becomes deep and even. He must've sensed her presence in the room and woken briefly, it's not unusual for him to do so these days, though Avarak is usually the one in her bed.

T'Pol finishes off the chapter of her book and turns off the light, laying down in bed and pulling Kuvok close to her, she used to lay like this when he was a baby and still sleeping in the bed with her every night. Koss didn't much care for the children being in their bed but he wasn't the one who had to get up to feed them four times a night. She'd typically only allowed it while they were nursing but now that she's alone she occasionally allows Kuvok and Avarak to sleep in her bed if they come in at night, it's easier than fighting with them.

She falls asleep with Kuvok curled against her.