AN: This is a short little triad piece. It will be a few chapters.

I own nothing from Star Trek.

I hope you enjoy! If you do, please let me know!

111

"My sweet baby boy," Laris crooned, as she rocked Elnor and nursed him. The baby, who had not yet mastered a great deal of words, was only somewhat a master of his feet when he used them for walking, and surely had a somewhat limited understanding of things, didn't seem to fully understand why his mama seemed especially forlorn while she rocked and him and indulged him with an extra morning nursing that she might, normally, delay until he forgot that he wanted it.

"Is going to be fine," Jean-Luc offered, trying to put as much upbeat enthusiasm behind his tone as possible. It was his best effort to combat the almost funereal air around them.

"I know you said you weren't taking anything," Beverly said, coming into the living room with Jack hot on her heels, "but—I loaded this PADD with some images. Just…Jack and Elnor, and Jean-Luc and I. You know, in case you get homesick."

Laris smiled at her. Jean-Luc could see the tears glittering in Laris's eyes as much as he could see them still dotting Beverly's lashes.

"Romulans…" Laris started.

"Don't you do it!" Beverly said quickly, a burst of what Jean-Luc could neither identify as truly laughter or tears. She forced some laughter, but it was a bit choked. "Don't you tell me that—Romulans don't get homesick, OK? Truth."

"Truth?" Laris asked, putting her shirt back into place and kissing and hugging Elnor before resting his feet on the floor.

"Truth," Beverly confirmed.

Laris got to her feet and immediately wrapped Beverly in a tight hug—the kind where you could barely tell where one woman ended and the other began.

"I'm already homesick," Laris admitted. "I miss you all already."

"We miss you already," Beverly echoed, holding Laris tightly. "But I'm so proud of you. My wife—helping to establish diplomatic security between the Romulan colony on Chaltok IV and the Federation…"

"Ladies—forgive me," Jean-Luc said, lifting up Jack and propping the four-year old against his hip when he asked for Jean-Luc's attention. "The base where Laris will be located on Chaltok IV is one transport and a short shuttle ride away. They have open communications. And the trip is scheduled to be two weeks, at the longest."

Both women looked at him as though they were slightly offended by the fact that he simply couldn't understand the situation, and they were right. He couldn't fully understand the situation. He also decided, though, that there were some things that simply weren't his to understand.

Jean-Luc stepped forward and used the arm that wasn't holding Jack to pull Laris toward him. Beverly came, too, hugging him so that she encircled Jack, too.

"We already miss you," Jean-Luc said, rubbing Laris's back. "And we are only a call away. We will take care of everything here. All you have to worry about is diplomatic security and taking care of yourself."

"And that precious little one you're taking with you," Beverly offered, referring to the very small baby that Laris carried, tucked away from the notice of most who didn't know her very well.

"Of course," Jean-Luc said.

Laris, obviously having at least something of her fill of affection, pulled away and wiped at her eyes.

"I'll miss you too, Mama," Jack offered, innocently and sincerely, when Jean-Luc put him down.

If Laris had her fill of affection before, she suddenly found a new space for more. She dropped to a knee and took Jack in tight hug. He squeezed her back and, when he pulled out of the hug, he smiled at her and affectionately pinched one of her ears between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing it with intent to show more affection. Laris accepted the gesture and smiled at him.

"I am going to miss you very, very much," Laris said. "I'm going to be counting on you to help your brother as much as possible. He's never been without Mama—not since we met."

Jack frowned at her.

"Me either," he offered.

Laris laughed quietly, but the laugh sounded half-choked. She rubbed his face affectionately before pressing her forehead to his.

"No—you're quite right. You haven't," Laris said. "And that's why—I have this, for you. Something special." She reached in her pocket and pulled out a small piece of folded paper. She held it out to Jack. He took it and furrowed his brow at her to ask what it was. She winked at him. "It's our special Romulan chocolate cake," she said. "I programmed it in the replicator for you. Just like you and I make it. You just have to put in the code, and you can have it for dessert, if you miss me."

Jack threw his arms around her as thanks, and she stood, bringing him with her for a moment before she finished hugging him and lowered him back to the floor. Elnor, who was practically circling her, raised his arms to her and she picked him up and kissed him again.

"I have to go," she said. "I have to go, or I'll never leave…"

Beverly offered her a handkerchief and the PADD she'd brought. She took Elnor. As soon as the transfer was made, Laris kissed Elnor's face again. Then, she kissed Beverly again, passionately, before rubbing her hand over Elnor's head.

"If you have any problem—any problem at all—I've already talked to Starfleet. They have a medical base there. I communicated to them how you feel about the Romulan hospitals. You go straight to the Starfleet Medical base, and they'll treat you as a Federation citizen first, and a Romulan second. They'll take good care of you and the baby, if you need them."

Laris nodded her understanding. She gave Beverly a smile. Jean-Luc saw her swallowing, though, as she made sure that she was in charge of her voice before speaking. She looked at Elnor once more.

"He's been—taking the bottle, and…"

"We will take care of everything," Jean-Luc said. "Come on…I'll walk you to the transporter. You have nothing to worry about."

Jean-Luc put his arm around Laris and walked her from the room, knowing full well that she would be fine as soon as she was able to leave. She was hormonal—he knew that—and she was emotional. She was, however, strong and independent, too.

Everyone would be fine, but goodbyes, after all, were always difficult.

111

If anyone had asked Jean-Luc how things were going, he would have said that they were, at least tolerable. That is, of course, until the exact moment that they became quite intolerable.

When Laris left, it took a little while before Elnor realized that she was gone. Or, perhaps, it took some time before he realized that her absence was longer than the typical absence required for a trip to town, when she might sometimes leave him in the loving care of his other two parents.

Around dinner time, when Beverly and Jean-Luc were preparing the meal, alone, that normally they at least prepared with Laris, if not leaving it entirely to her capable hands, Elnor started to become suspicious. He started to whine. He started to request her, using the few words that he bothered to employ.

"Mama…Mama…"

He started to wander through the Château, allowing Jack and Number One to accompany him like members of some sort of mystery-solving team in search of something important—and, perhaps, this was the most important thing of all—while he called out to her and waited for her response.

Jean-Luc and Beverly practically held their breath, only daring to make eye contact, and clearly decided, together, that the best plan was to see if he forgot.

But how was he to be expected to forget his mama, whom he loved dearly?

Elnor's concern was addressed to the both of them when, returning to the kitchen after a fruitless search of the Château, he came to stand directly beside Jean-Luc, and then Beverly, and to look at them directly—a tiny hand on a leg each time—and repeat his request.

"Come here, Sweetheart," Beverly said, picking him up. "It's time for your dinner."

At least, that's what Jean-Luc imagined she meant to say. Elnor didn't quite let anyone else in the room hear her words because, finding himself lifted off the floor by someone that he clearly found unacceptable at the moment, Elnor launched into a screaming cry that nearly deafened everyone in the kitchen. He fought Beverly, pushing against her, until she had no choice except to put him down. A Romulan toddler, they quickly learned, was much stronger than an equally sized human.

"Jean-Luc! What do we do?" Beverly asked.

Jean-Luc could tell that she was upset, and he felt the need to do whatever was necessary to keep anyone else from being upset, especially since he felt almost certain that Jack would be upset the moment that he saw his mother reacting negatively to the chaos around them.

"Elnor," Jean-Luc said, picking up the baby, "it's going to be fine. You're quite all right. You're only hungry. Would you like some supper?"

Elnor didn't fight him, but he didn't look happy with him, either.

"Mama!" Elnor demanded.

"She's not here," Jack offered. He walked over and touched Elnor's leg, where Jean-Luc was holding him. "She's not here…but it's OK. It's OK, Elnor. You can hold my Toby…if you want. You can hold him."

"I'm sure Elnor appreciates your offer of comfort," Jean-Luc said. "We need only to get him to calm down, and everything will be fine."

"What about milk?" Beverly asked.

At the word, Elnor stopped the screaming that he was doing, and it turned, instead, to a loud sobbing. Jean-Luc felt a little of the tension and rigidness leaving his little body.

"Yes, milk," Jean-Luc said. "I do think milk might be in order. Would you like milk, Elnor?"

Elnor's sobbing lessened to a hiccupping cry. Jean-Luc nodded at Beverly, but she was already in the process of warming the breastmilk for the bottle. Laris had left them with quite the supply in the freezer, but Beverly had also programmed the replicator to make a fair version of Laris's milk, should they run out before she was able to return.

"There's no milk before dinner," Jack offered. "Mama says that. She says there's no milk before dinner. Elnor can have milk, but only after he eats his dinner."

"While I normally agree with your mama on most things," Jean-Luc said, "I believe that this is a special occasion. And, as such, we shall allow for milk before dinner."

The explanation needn't have happened, though, because the moment that Jean-Luc offered Elnor the bottle—a bottle that had been specially chosen for some special quality it possessed of being most similar in function and feel to an actual breast—Elnor pushed the bottle away and was immediately more upset than he'd been before, returning to inconsolable screaming, though not physically fighting Jean-Luc as he had Beverly earlier.

Jean-Luc looked at Beverly, who had put on an expression that was supposed to be a smile, for Jack's benefit, but made her look at least slightly unwell, and he watched as she served a plate for Jack.

"Come on, Jack—let's have your dinner. Would you like to…eat it in the living room? You can watch a holofilm."

Jack's eyes went wide.

"With dinner?" He asked.

"With dinner," Beverly said. "Whichever film you want."

And, without a word, she left Jean-Luc in the kitchen with their screaming Romulan son having a complete meltdown. Jean-Luc tried a few times, unsuccessfully, to introduce the bottle to Elnor. He tried to offer him bites of food on his favorite red fork. He was unsuccessful at everything he tried.

And he was thankful to see Beverly come back, even though she returned with quick movements and the wide eyes from earlier that told him that she was only just keeping her panic under control.

"Perhaps he will take the milk better from you," Jean-Luc said, trying to offer Elnor over.

"Why would he do that, Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked.

"Because you have breasts, Beverly," Jean-Luc said.

"Which are not the ones in which he has any interest at all," Beverly said.

"You smell familiar," Jean-Luc said.

"As do you, and that's clearly little consolation to him."

"You are maternal, and perhaps he can sense that," Jean-Luc said. "Besides—as it stands, he won't take the milk from me nor the food. He has to eat. It's only reasonable, then, that you attempt to feed him."

Beverly seemed to accept that. She took a second and took the opportunity to prepare herself. She looked positive and happy when she reached for Elnor.

"Come here, my love," she offered softly. "Let's have some milk and sit down a little…where it's quiet."

Elnor quieted, slightly, as he clearly listened to see what she was saying to him. However, as soon as the transfer was made, he launched back into a round of screaming that rivaled even some of what he'd done before. He reached for Jean-Luc and called out "Papa." Beverly didn't hesitate to make the transfer back.

Elnor, for his part, wasn't going to give up screaming entirely, but he did soften his protests a little to see that he was back in Jean-Luc's arms.

"Well—there's only one thing we can do," Jean-Luc said.

"And what do you propose that is?" Beverly asked.

"Call Laris," Jean-Luc said. "She has to come home…or Elnor has to go to Chaltok IV."

"She'll never get her work done with him there," Beverly said. "And we promised her that we can handle this. Jean-Luc, we are capable parents…"

"Clearly not capable enough," Jean-Luc said.

"We will figure this out," Beverly said. She pointed a finger at Jean-Luc. "I forbid you to bother Laris. In fact—no communication with Laris at all."

"But…when she calls…" Jean-Luc started.

"We won't answer," Beverly said. "I'll send her a message that we're having some difficulties with communications. We'll call her when we figure this out and the crisis is resolved. There's no need for her to be unnecessarily upset."

"What if we can't resolve this?" Jean-Luc asked, almost laughing because the screaming toddler in his arms showed no signs of letting up on expressing his absolute distress.

Beverly put her hands on Jean-Luc's arms and squeezed.

"We love Elnor, and he loves us," she said. "Even if, at the moment, he's not very happy with us. We will resolve this, and we won't ruin Laris's trip. Jean-Luc…we can do this."

Jean-Luc wasn't certain he believed her, but he was certain that he had no choice. He set his resolve and nodded. He gave her the best smile he could, given the circumstances.

"We can do this," he said.

"Good—now—he seems happiest with Papa, for now. A warm shower always calms him down and makes him feel better, if he's not feeling well. I'll keep your dinner warm for you."

Jean-Luc understood what he was being directed to do. He nodded his understanding, accepted the quick kiss that Beverly offered him, and took their miserable toddler with him as he headed toward their bedroom and what the boys called "the big shower."