Tripp sat between the beds of his son and wife. They had made it back to the ship and both Charlie and T'Pol were taken to the sickbay. Phlox checked them both and just told Tripp that they just needed rest in sickbay for one night. Tripp just took seat between their beds. He just watched them sleep.
"Papa," Tripp turned his head and looked into his son's blue eyes.
"Hey, Four," Tripp ran his hand through Charlie's blond hair.
"You saved Mama and me," Charlie whispered. Tripp nodded. He didn't know what to say to his son.
"Go back to sleep," Tripp said. Tripp watched as Charlie went back to sleep.
"Tripp," Tripp turned away from his son to look at his wife, to see his wife staring at him.
He smiled. "Hello, lover," Tripp saw that T'Pol didn't like that, but she spoke anyway.
"If I'm ever away from you again, clear your mind and think of me," T'Pol reached for Tripp's hand.
Tripp gripped her hand. "Okay," He knew not to question T'Pol when she was holding on to him. "Go back to sleep because I'm never leaving you again."
"Tripp, that is not logical," T'Pol whispered.
"I don't care. I was scared that I was going to lose you and our children," Tripp placed the hand that wasn't holding T'Pol' hand on her still flat stomach. T'Pol opened her mouth to say something but Tripp leaned over and kissed her lips. "Go to sleep." Tripp watched as T'Pol fell asleep as he held her hand. "I promise you; I am never going to leave you or our children."
T'Pol sat on the couch in her quarters, watching Charlie play with his toys. They had gotten their things from the other ship and T'Pol was glad because some Charlie's favorite toys were on that ship. She was also trying to read a book, but she was bored. She has been home since she left the sickbay and that was a few days ago. She would love to get back to work, but she would need Starfleet to approve for her to go back to work.
The chime went off and T'Pol turned towards the door. "Enter," She straightened when she saw that it was the captain. "Sir," She tried to stand but Captain Archer waved her back down.
Captain Archer looked around room and didn't see Tripp. "Where is Tripp?"
"I think in Engineering," T'Pol said. That is what he told her after they had breakfast with Charlie. "Please take a seat, Captain," T'Pol waved to a chair. Jonathan smiled as he sat. T'Pol wondered what the captain was doing here. She was about to ask when Charlie came up.
"Uncle Jon," Charlie reached for the captain. Jonathan picked up Charlie and Charlie settled in the captain's arms.
Jonathan took a breath. "I just got a message from Starfleet," T'Pol wondered what was going to happen to her. "You are reinstated as first officer, but you will have limited duties. No away missions."
T'Pol nodded. "Thank you, sir," Jonathan nodded and took Charlie off his lap.
"I'll see you tomorrow for your first shift," Jonathan nodded to her before leaving.
T'Pol was glad to be going back to work, but she glanced at Charlie. They were going to have to find another babysitter for Charlie. Crewman Edgerton was gone, and she was great with Charlie. They had a funeral for her. Tripp and she sent a letter to her family telling them how wonderful she was. How were they going to find someone else to take care of Charlie while they were working?
"Tripp," T'Pol said his name as they were sitting down for dinner with Charlie. Tripp looked up from his plate. "I start working again tomorrow and we are going to have to find someone to take care of Charlie while we are both working."
Tripp sighed. He knew that his wife was right. "I'll work at nights until we can find someone to take care of Charlie," Charlie decided that he was done with his food and started to play with it. T'Pol took his plate away from him.
"Are you sure?" T'Pol asked. Charlie looked between both of his parents and gave a smile as he banged his spoon on the table. T'Pol took his spoon away from him.
"Yeah," Tripp said. He handed Charlie a toy that they brought for him to play with. "I have a good crew and they can handle things," Charlie didn't like that his parents were ignoring him.
"Mama, Papa," He said. "Play with me."
Tripp turned to his son, smiled, then frowned. He didn't like the look in Charlie's eyes. There was a fear in them. Tripp glanced at T'Pol and noticed that she saw the look too. Tripp reached for Charlie and held him on his lap. He started to play with him. "I think right now he needs us."
T'Pol nodded. Charlie needed both right. They had to reassure him that they were going nowhere. T'Pol thought that she might talk to the doctor and see if there was anything they could do for Charlie. T'Pol finished eating so she could take Charlie and Tripp could finish eating.
T'Pol sat in the captain's chair and looked down at the PADD in her hand. Now that she was First Officer and the Science Officer again, she had a lot of work to do before she was needed home to take care of Charlie. It has been a month since her return and she barely saw her husband. They would meet only before he left for work, and she was back from work. They have tried people on the ship and none of them worked out. Charlie didn't like them, or they couldn't do what they needed. T'Pol sighed. They needed to find someone soon before they were in the middle of a battle.
She glanced at the time on her PADD. "Lieutenant Reed, you have the bridge," T'Pol stood and didn't see Malcom nod as she left the bridge.
She made her way to her quarters and opened the door to find Tripp and Charlie sleeping on the couch. She watched them for moment when the ship shook. Tripp's eyes opened and looked right at her. Before either one could say anything, they heard.
"Commander T'Pol to the bridge."
Tripp and T'Pol traded a look because they both knew that Tripp was going to be needed in Engineering. The ship shook again, T'Pol was needed on the bridge. Tripp was going to tell T'Pol to go when they heard.
"Commander Tucker to Engineering."
It sounded like Tripp's second in command. Tripp sat up with the sleeping child. He was needed and she was needed. They couldn't just leave Charlie by himself. T'Pol was ready to reach for the comm when there was a chime at that the door. T'Pol opened the door to see that it was Crewman Gomez. She smiled at them.
"Is there something you need, Crewman?" T'Pol asked.
"I'm here to take Charlie," Crewman Gomez came in the room and reached for Charlie. "Captain Archer thought that you might need some help," Tripp handed Charlie to Crewman Gomez.
"I'll take you to the safe spot," Tripp stood and led her to Charlie's room. T'Pol followed them. Tripp made sure they were safe before turning around and shrugged his shoulders at T'Pol. They knew that their son was safe right now and they were needed somewhere else. Tripp kissed T'Pol before they each went in the opposite direction.
The battle was long and there was a lot of damage. T'Pol and Tripp had a meeting with the captain and Malcom about repairing the ship and how long it was going to take to repair. It was going to a while to fix. They just needed to be ready for the next attack when it came.
T'Pol and Tripp made it back to their quarters. They were ready to hit their bed and get some sleep in before they had to start working on getting the ship together again. They entered their quarter to see that Crewman Gomez was sitting down on their couch, reading a PADD. She smiled when she saw them.
"Charlie is sleeping in his room," Crewman Gomez stood.
"Thank you for watching him," Tripp said as he moved out of the way of the door so she could leave.
"He is a good kid," Crewman Gomez glanced at the room where Charlie was sleeping.
"Crewman Gomez," T'Pol stopped her. "Since you did such a good job watching him. Could you be Charlie's nanny?"
"What about my other duties?" Crewman Gomez asked.
"You wouldn't have to worry about them. Charlie will be your first responsibility and only because we might need you for a battle or any time during the day. We will talk to your commanding officer and all you will have to do is be here." T'Pol said. "Who is your commanding officer?"
Crewman Gomez told them. "I will think on it."
"That is all we asked," T'Pol said. Gomez nodded and left the quarters.
"Well since we have a few hours of sleep before Charlie gets up, lets head for bed," Tripp took T'Pol hand and led her to their bedroom so they could get a few hours of sleep.
T'Pol was ready to mediate, and Tripp was ready to shower when they heard the ship shook again. They waited because they could have hit something, but the ship shook again. Tripp and T'Pol traded a look as they were both being called for service. They got ready and left their room. T'Pol went to Charlie's room to see that he was still asleep. The chime went off and Tripp let Crewman Gomez in.
"Thank you for returning," Tripp said. Crewman Gomez nodded as she walked pass him and T'Pol. They watched as she took him to the safe spot. Tripp and T'Pol both left for the battle that was happening.
They were in a worse way after this. If a Vulcan ship didn't show up, they would have been dead in the water. There were more repairs to do on the ship. Tripp was going to have his teams working around the clock to get the ship working again. They needed things done before they got into another battle.
They got back to their quarters to find that Charlie was up. He smiled at his tired parents before getting up and running towards them. Tripp picked him up and held him as T'Pol ran a hand over his back. They were glad that he was okay.
Crewman Gomez watched the family, knew that they loved their son, and only wanted the best for him. She knew right there and then that she would be their children's nanny. "I can take him to the mess hall so you can get some sleep," She reached for Charlie. Tripp gave her Charlie. "Also, I would be honor to be Charlie's nanny."
"Thank you," Tripp smiled. Crewman Gomez smiled ad she left the quarters. Tripp and T'Pol didn't wait and headed for their bed.