T'Pol stood in front of the house that her father grew up in. The house has been in her family for generations. The last time she was here was before her father and it felt like he was saying goodbye to it. He was the one who taught her about her emotions and how to keep them in. She had missed her father, but then she had her mother, who taught her how to keep her emotions in deeper. T'Pol never seen her mother cry, even after her father died. T'Pol knew that her parents cared deeply for each other.
The house a Vulcan home, it was bigger than the house that she grew up in. She could feel the heat of the day was ending. She took breath before going in. She heard that Tripp was behind her. He was talking to Charlie, who fell asleep in her arms on their way down. Charlie wasn't happy about being up and Tripp and T'Pol knew that it was better that Tripp put him back to sleep. They sat there for a second to see if Charlie would go back to sleep, but he didn't.
"Charlie, this is where your forefather grew up," Tripp said to the baby. T'Pol heard the laughter from Charlie. T'Pol knew it had nothing to do with her father, but Charlie's father.
She walked through the garden to the door. She raised her hand to knock on the door. They knew that she was coming. Tripp put a hand on her back, and she felt calmer than before. T'Pol knocked on the door and didn't have to wait long before the door was opened. T'Pol looked in the face of Sov's wife, Naisi.
"Naisi," T'Pol greeted the older woman.
"T'Pol," Naisi returned the greeting, before looking behind T'Pol to see Tripp and Charlie. "It is good that you came," She moved out of the way and let them.
T'Pol knew that they were in the foyer that led into the rest of house. They followed Naisi to the sitting room. T'Pol felt Tripp shift his weight, he was never comfortable with Vulcan furniture. T'Pol glanced around the room to see her foremother sitting on a chair. Her foremother eyes went from her to her husband and child. T'Pol watched Naisi make her way to Sov, who was sitting on a chaise. T'Pol felt that they should have left Charlie on the ship, this is something he wasn't used to. Charlie let out a cry because he could the tension in the room. He was already reaching for her and T'Pol took him. T'Pol watched as Tripp stuffed his hands in his pockets because he wasn't holding Charlie anymore.
"Hello, Sov, it's good to see you again," T'Pol greeted her cousin. She saw that he was watching the baby in her arms. T'Pol turned to her foremother. "Foremother, how have you been?"
Her foremother looked from her to the baby. "I'm an old woman I've lived my life, but you have lived some life. Introduce your husband and child."
"T'Pol nodded. "This is my husband, Commander Charles Tucker the Third and this is our son, Charles Tucker the Fourth." T'Pol turned to Tripp. "This is my foremother, T'ril and my cousin, Sov and his wife, Naisi."
"How does your husband and son have the same name?" T'ril asked.
Tripp looked at T'Pol before speaking, she nodded. "On Earth it is sometimes a tradition to name your son after yourself. I was named after my father, who was named after his father."
"How do you tell them apart?" T'ril asked it to T'Pol.
"Everyone calls my husband, Tripp and we call our son, Charlie," T'Pol gave Tripp a look when he opened his mouth. Charlie looked up at his mom when he heard his name and smiled at her before he settled his head on her shoulder.
"That make no logical sense," Sov said.
"Have you ever met a human?" Tripp asked.
"Only a couple of times," Sov said.
"We don't make logical sense," Tripp smiled. T'Pol shook her head at Tripp.
"Take a seat," T'ril pointed to one couch that was next to her chair. Tripp looked at the couch before sitting. T'Pol followed him and knew that he was going to be uncomfortable. She settled Charlie in her lap. "I always thought that you had a good head on your shoulders, that you would do right in the end, but look at you."
"Foremother," Sov warned her. T'Pol glanced at her cousin, she knew that he wasn't a big fan of her, but he was doing something different.
Foremother waved him off. "When we start pushing her into marrying Koss, she runs off to Earth."
"I got a job under Soval," T'Pol said. "I wasn't running."
"Then she gets put on a ship full of humans," T'ril looked like it was Tripp's fault that she was on the ship.
"Tripp had nothing to do with it," T'Pol raised her voice a little. "The Enterprise needed a science officer and Soval told me to go on the ship."
"She didn't even like me at first," Tripp smiled at T'ril.
T'ril ignored them both. "The next thing we hear about is she is taking a Vulcan temple. Dishonor to your family, your mother lost her job."
"Mother forgive me for that. And you did nothing to stop them from taking away her job," T'Pol had to control her emotions. She felt Tripp put a hand on her back and started to make circles on her back. It brought a comfort to her.
"You resign you commission with Vulcan High Command to help those humans," T'ril ignored them again.
"Yes, Vulcan should have help them," T'Pol glanced at Charlie, who was watching everyone.
"You return home with a commission from Starfleet, the only good thing was you married Koss," T'Pol could see that T'ril waited for her say something about that. T'Pol decided to let her grandmother have her say. "You soon come back for your mother and bring a priceless Vulcan treasure back, but you lose your mother. You annulled your marriage to Koss. The next thing that we hear is you are married to a human and going to have a baby." T'ril looked at Charlie, who was given a toy from Tripp to play with. "Are you satisfied with the way your life turned out?"
"Yes." T'Pol didn't even have to think about it. "I have amazing husband, who understands me and a son, who looks at me like I'm all he needs in the world. I have friends on the ship that understand me, and I understand them. The chooses I made have brought me here."
Charlie let out a cry and threw his toy across the room. T'Pol knew that he was hungry. Tripp had the bottle already for him. He handed her the bottle and went to pick up the toy that he threw. Charlie settled once he had the bottle in his mouth. He held on to the bottle, T'Pol knew that he wasn't quite ready to hold the bottle himself.
"You are good with him," Naisi said. T'Pol looked up and saw a sadness in her eyes. She really wanted to be a mother, but never get the change to be one.
"It was learning curve," T'Pol said. "The first few months I was wreck."
"Did you have a nanny to help?" Naisi asked.
"No, our captain gave us a couple of months off to get used to being parents. We do have someone who watches him during the day when we are both working." T'Pol glanced down at her son to see he was halfway through the bottle.
T'Pol looked at her foremother to see how she was taking all this. T'Pol wasn't sure, but she thought that she might have saw a smile on her face. T'Pol was trying to figure things out when she heard her cousin.
"I thought that Vulcans and humans can't have children," Sov glanced at the baby.
"It is true," Tripp said. "We came in contact with an alien race that made us compatible." T'Pol gave him look. Tripp leaned closer to her. "Do you want me to tell them that I couldn't keep it in my pants?" T'Pol shook her head.
"Can I hold him?" Naisi asked. T'Pol nodded and handed Charlie to her. Sov looked down at the baby while his wife was holding him.
"He looks like you, Tripp," Sov stated. He saw the Vulcan ears and smiled. "He has your ears, T'Pol."
There was a knock on the door. T'ril looked up and saw their housekeeper. "Dinner is ready," T'ril try to stand. Sov and Tripp both stood to help her. She waved Sov off and took the arm that Tripp held out. Sov and T'Pol traded a look.
Tripp and T'ril walked out of the sitting to the dining room. "Do you love T'Pol?" T'ril asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I have loved her for years," Tripp smiled.
T'ril nodded. "Does T'Pol love you?"
"In her way, she does. She doesn't wear it on her sleeve like I do. I know she loves me and our son," Tripp couldn't keep the smile off his face.
"I'm glad. I had hoped that she would find love with Koss, but she never cared for him the way he did for her. Did you know my own foremother married for love and not who her parents arranged for her?"
"Really, you have to tell me the story," Tripp helped her take her seat.
"Your husband knows how to charm people," Sov leaned down to T'Pol as he helped her take her seat. Naisi brought up the rear with Charlie. They even had a chair for Charlie and Naisi put him in it. T'Pol was glad that she was next to the chair. Trip sat on Charlie's other side. Sov and Naisi sat across from them.
"Tripp, what does your parents do?" T'ril asked. Tripp told them about his family and answered any question that they had about Earth.
The meal passed quickly before they were heading back to the sitting room. Charlie was sleeping on Tripp as they found seats again. Tripp felt that it was going well with her family. He could still tell that T'Pol was a little tense, it was why Charlie was sleeping on him and not her. He turned to T'ril. "You have to tell me the story about your foremother."
If the old woman would smile, she would. Tripp thought he heard moans from Sov and T'Pol. They must have heard this story before. "My foremother, Murrain was to marry a Vulcan man by the name of Vofiac, arranged by her parents. It was to be a good match on both sides. Before they could marry, Murrain wanted to finish her education, she was in her last year when she met Dorenn. He was more around her age than the man her parents wanted to marry.
"They had a project to do, and they connect during the project and didn't want their relationship to end after the project. They would go out for walks after school. They really got to know each other during those walks. Murrain started to have feelings for Dorenn and knew that she shouldn't. The wedding between her and Vofiac was planned for after her graduation. She tried to bury her feelings for Dorenn and move on. Murrain graduation came and went, and she couldn't stop thinking about Dorenn.
"The night before the wedding she made decision that no Vulcan woman would make. She packed a bag and left her parents' home. She made her way to find Dorenn to find that he was living in the capital. When she knocked on the door, she was taking a risk for an emotion that she shouldn't be feeling. Dorenn opened the door and was shocked to see her standing there. He knew that it was her wedding tomorrow.
"Dorenn asked her what she was doing there. Murrain told him and wondered if he felt the same. He said yes. They found someone to marry them and then they ran away. They lived together many years before anyone found them, by the time they found them, they had two children." T'ril looked at T'Pol. "I know that you heard that story before. I have told you that story before. You reminded me a lot of my foremother. You decided that you wouldn't follow the path that was laid out for you but make your own. I know you thought that I was hard on you. I wanted to make sure that this is what you wanted."
T'Pol would have smiled, and Tripp knew that she was smiling on the inside. He shifted Charlie to one arm and wrapped an arm T'Pol. "I do love Tripp. I guess I always knew that there was more out there for me."
"T'Pol, you are strong woman and I know that you have made your choices," T'ril said. "I know that it was hard not to be the perfect Vulcan woman, I know that you keep your emotions close to surface and I think that is why you are attracted to this man. I had hoped that you made your choices out of love."
T'Pol traded a look with Tripp. "Some yes, but the choices I made led me here."
"You will have strong daughters," T'ril said. T'Pol gave her foremother a look. "Before my foremother died, she told me that I would have granddaughter that would make her own decisions in life, and she would raise strong daughters that will make their own paths in their world."
Tripp knew that T'Pol was getting emotional, and it might be time to leave before her emotion get the best of her. "I think it is time that we leave," Tripp stood holding Charlie.
"Always remember that you will be welcomed here," Sov said.
"Are you sure?" T'Pol asked. "I haven't always been your favorite person."
"I know, but you are the only family I have, and humans and Vulcans make cute babies," Sov sighed. "I should have never turned my back on you. You have every right to be in this house as I do." Sov turned to Tripp. "Take care of my cousin."
"You don't know your cousin, but she can take care of herself," Tripp made Charlie more comfortable in his arms.
They said their goodbyes before leaving. Tripp knew it was better to leave T'Pol in her thought on the way home. They got back to the ship and found out that the captain and Hoshi were back. The captain had gone to bed and would tell them about their meeting in the morning. Tripp and T'Pol made their way to their quarters.
When they got back, Tripp went and put Charlie to bed. He made his way to his bedroom to see that T'Pol was just standing there. Tripp wrapped his arms around her from behind. "It was better than you thought," T'Pol only nodded. He turned her around and placed her head on his shoulder and just held her.