Tripp kissed the back of his wife's neck. They had reconnected after the mission where he was almost died by eating. T'Pol looked up at him for a moment before going back to her book. They were sitting on the couch in their quarters. The children were sleeping. They didn't have to be up early to get to work. He tried to kiss her again. T'Pol pushed him away.
"Not tonight, Tripp," T'Pol whispered.
"Is everything okay?" Tripp asked. He watched as she got up and headed for their room.
"Yeah, I just not feeling it tonight," The door to their room opened and Tripp watched her enter. He leaned back against the couch because he had a feeling that his wife wanted to be alone for a moment. He picked up the PADD on the table that he had to read before tomorrow morning.
It was an hour before he finished reading, he glanced at his room wondering if his wife was asleep. He put the PADD down before getting up and headed to his room. He walked in to see that there was a light on over T'Pol side of the bed. She looked up for a moment before going back to her book. Tripp made his way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. As he was in the bathroom, he had to think about did he did something to make her upset with him. He left the bathroom and made his way to bed. He climbed into bed and turned his back away from her. He knew right now to give her space.
Tripp woke to find T'Pol gone, and he didn't hear the children in the other room. Tripp got up and made his way to the living area and didn't see anyone there. He quickly made his way to the children's room and saw that they were already gone. They would have breakfast as a family but T'Pol already left. Tripp ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what was going on with his wife. If she was upset with him before she would tell him. There must be something else bothering her.
Tripp went to shower and dress. When he came out the children were back with Ella. Charlie and T'Mir wrapped themselves around his legs. He leaned down and kissed them on the top of their heads. He hoped that they didn't have anything sticky on them. Tripp smiled at Ella as he pulled the children away. "I'll see you tonight after work," He told the children. He got out of their quarters and made his way to the mess hall to grab something to eat before heading to engineering.
Tripp entered the engineering and checked on everything before he headed to his office. He had a lot of paperwork to do and hated doing it. He would rather be in engineering making sure that everything was running like it should be, but the captain had yelled at him to get it done.
He entered his office to see someone else in his chair. He closed the door behind him. "Is there something I can do for you, Commander?" Tripp asked. T'Pol raised an eyebrow at him. Tripp crossed his arms. "Don't. I don't know what I did to piss you off, but right now you are my commanding officer."
T'Pol sighed. "You did nothing wrong. I came here to talk to you about that." Tripp raised an eyebrow. He wanted to make his way over to her, but he wanted to know what was going on. "I have told you about Jodaal," Tripp nodded. He had heard that name before. "As you know he has been behind the research about breeding Vulcan and human hybrid babies. You also know that he has been writing to me asking about how we got pregnant, carried two babies to term, and how our children are growing up pass the age that they had."
"What about him?" Tripp asked as he slowly made his way to the desk.
"Well, he is coming on the ship with other delegates from Vulcan," T'Pol said. Tripp saw the worry in her eyes. Tripp made his way to her, he took her out of the chair, sat down, and placed her on his lap.
Tripp didn't like this man. He never wrote to Tripp, only to T'Pol about the children and she would ignore the letters that he had sent. Now he was coming on the ship. "I don't like that either. We can't just keep the children in our quarters."
"No, they have free roam of the ship," T'Pol leaned against Trip. "We will just have to keep them separated. I don't want him to even see the children."
Tripp nodded. "The Vulcan delegates can have their meals in the captain's mess hall so the kids can still eat in the mess hall. Have you talked to the captain about this?"
"No, but I'm sure that he will go with whatever we have planned," T'Pol said. Tripp nodded and tightened his arms around T'Pol. She just needed to be held for a second.
"We will get through this," Tripp mumbled in her hair. "Why didn't you tell me last night?"
"I thought that I could figure something out by myself," T'Pol mumbled.
"T'Pol, you could have come to me about this, they are my children too and last time I checked we are married." Tripp didn't like that she didn't come to him.
"I know but he just wrote last night that he would be here, and I think I let my emotions get the best of me," T'Pol started to pull out of Tripp's arms. Tripp pulled her back towards him.
Tripp let out a little chuckle. "I think that you have spent a lot of time with me."
T'Pol rolled her eyes. Tripp pulled her face closer to his. He kissed her until he heard a moan from her. Tripp reached for her zipper at the back of her uniform when they heard.
"Commander T'Pol to the bridge," Tripp broke the kiss and let T'Pol leave his lap.
T'Pol glanced down before glancing up at his face. Tripp almost let out a moan because he could see the fire in her eyes. T'Pol leaned closer to him. "Later, Mr. Tucker," She pulled back and left his office before he could do anything.
T'Pol came in the shuttle bay as the shuttle bay doors closed. She found the captain and stood by him. The Vulcan delegates were here. There were four of them. T'Pol watched as they came off the shuttle. T'Pol didn't know which one was Jodaal as they made their way over to them.
The oldest Vulcan introduced himself to the captain and her. "I'm Faufurk," Captain Archer and T'Pol both greeted him. "This Nera," There was an older woman next to him. They greeted her. "This is V'Lum," This man looked maybe thirty to forty years older T'Pol. "And this Jodaal," Jodaal looked to be around T'Pol's own age. She didn't think that he would be that young. She had heard that he had worked on the Vulcan/human project for years.
Jodaal looked her up and down with his cool blue eyes. His hair was the Vulcan dark. "Commander T'Pol," He said in a deep voice. "Captain Archer," He greeted the captain.
"Welcome to the Enterprise," Captain Archer smiled at them. "I hope we can make this journey enjoyable. Commander T'Pol will show you to your rooms," The delegates nodded. "I hope that you can join me for dinner tonight in the captain's mess hall."
"It will be our pleasure," Faufurk said.
The captain nodded before leading the way out of the shuttle bay. T'Pol could tell that Jodaal wanted to walk with her, but she made sure that she was walking with Nera. She knew that he would start asking about her children and she wasn't going to tell him a single word about her children.
"Gentlemen, ladies, this is where I leave you," The captain said once they were all out of the shuttle bay. Everyone nodded.
"Let me take you to your rooms so you can rest before dinner with the captain," T'Pol led them in the other direction than the captain went. She made sure to walk with Faufurk and how he got placed on the Vulcan delegate team. He told her his story. He took most of the time it took to get to his room to tell her his story.
"Here is your room," T'Pol pointed it out to him. "Nera, you are cross from him," She pointed to the room where Nera was going to be staying. The Vulcan woman nodded. "V'Lum and Jodaal your rooms are this way," T'Pol led the other two men towards their rooms. She tried not to make eye contact with Jodaal.
"Will you be joining us, Commander T'Pol for dinner?" Jodaal asked after she showed him his room.
"No, I will be with my children," T'Pol turned to walk away.
"Are they on the ship?" There was a look in Jodaal's eyes that T'Pol didn't like.
T'Pol took a breath before turning around and looking at the man. "While you are on this ship you will stay away from my children." T'Pol decided to walk away from the man.
"You can't watch the whole ship, Commander T'Pol," Jodaal said. T'Pol thought that if he was human there would be a smile on his face.
She was ready to walk away before turning away from the man she said. "I don't have too. Everyone on this ship is protective of those children," She turned and walked away from him before she lost her emotions.
T'Pol stopped when she realized that she was in front of Engineering. She knew why she was here. Jodaal didn't know how protective she was of her children. Her emotions were getting the best of her right now. She took a breath before entering Engineering. She didn't have to look too hard for Tripp, he was on the stand for the warp core. Before she could say anything the crew member that was next to him tapped him on the shoulder. Tripp turned, smiled at her first, before frowning.
"Check the ejections," Tripp said before jumping off. He knew something was off with his wife. "Why don't we take this to my office, Commander," Tripp knew not to take her hand as he led her to his office.
Tripp waited until she was in the office before closing the door behind him. He took T'Pol in his arms. He let her take a couple of breaths. He knew that she needed this because her emotions were right there on the surface. He ran his hand over her back.
"Thank you," T'Pol away from him but didn't let his arms. "I just met Jodaal and there is something that I don't like about him. There is something sinister about him."
Tripp frowned. He hadn't met the man yet but if he made T'Pol feel this way than Tripp didn't like him. Her feelings were never this high. He knew how she felt about their children. Tripp took her head in his hands. "Hey, we are never going to let him near our children. We will tell everyone on the ship. Everyone loves our children," T'Pol nodded. Tripp kissed T'Pol's forehead before letting her go.
Jodaal knew that he was late for dinner with the captain, but he wanted to see if T'Pol was in the main mess hall with her children. He glanced in the mess hall and saw T'Pol and her human husband sitting at a table with the children. The oldest looked almost four in human years and the youngest was sitting on her father's lap, eating something that her father was giving her. The oldest was talking to his parents and it seemed that they were listening to the child. The children seemed happy.
"Sir," Jodaal looked away from the family to the young woman standing in front of him. "The captain's mess hall is this way," She led him away from the family to a set of doors that led to the captain and the other Vulcans. She waited until he was in the room before leaving. Jodaal knew right than and there that T'Pol was right about everyone on the ship being protective of the children. He would have to find another way to get to those children.
It wasn't hard finding out where T'Pol and her family quarters were, Jodaal thought. You just had to ask the right person. He stood around the corner while watching the family quarters. He watched the human father leave right away in the morning. He watched as T'Pol took the children out and he knew that she was taking them to breakfast. He watched as the children didn't come back with their mother but a nanny or something. He knew that he had to make his move quickly before someone saw him.
Jodaal went and rang the bell to the room. The young woman opened the door with a smile on her that quickly changed to a frown. "Is there something I can help you with?" She asked.
"Yes," Jodaal said. "I would like to see the children."
"I'm sorry no one can see the children unless they have permission from Commander T'Pol and Commander Tucker," The young woman crossed her arms to stop him from entering the quarters.
Jodaal didn't have to listen to this and pushed her aside. He entered the quarters and found the children playing on the floor. The oldest looked up at him with blue eyes. "Who are you?" He stepped in front of his sister. Jodaal saw close in age the children were. They were maybe three years apart.
"I'm a friend of your mother's," Jodaal said.
The boy shook his head. "No, you're not," He crossed her arms like a human. Jodaal wondered if he learned that from his father. Jodaal tried to find Vulcan traits and all he saw was the ears. Jodaal had to wonder if T'Pol is raising her children human and not Vulcan.
"I was an old friend of your mother's before she came on the ship," Jodaal tried to reason with the child. Maybe the child could see logic like Vulcan.
Before the child could see reason Jodaal heard behind him. "Please leave before I call security to get you to leave."
Jodaal turned around and pitched a nerve and Ella went down. He carried her to the couch and put her down. He turned to the children and saw that they were both crying. He shook his head because they had too many human emotions. He grabbed the girl and reached for the boy's hand, but the boy pulled away.
"No, Mama and Papa told me not to go with strangers," Jodaal saw a fire in the boy's eyes. He was a fighter.
Jodaal looked at the boy one more time before looking at his sister. "If you don't come with me, I will hurt your sister," He reached for the girl's mouth and covered it.
"Don't hurt T'Mir," The boy shouted.
Jodaal looked at the girl and thought that was a strong Vulcan name for this half breed child. Jodaal looked back at the boy. "Do not make a sound and come with me," Jodaal could see that the boy was thinking about it before taking Jodaal's hand that Jodaal held out.
Jodaal took the children out of the quarters. He made sure that no one saw them as they made their way to the shuttle bay. He hid the children before taking out the crewmember that was watching the shuttle bay. He placed the children in the shuttle before starting it up. He jumped out and opened the shuttle bay doors. He climbed back in and flew the shuttle out. Jodaal was glad that the boy stayed quiet.
"Commander," Ensign Mayweather said. "An authorized shuttle has left the shuttle bay."
T'Pol was ready to respond when she heard.
"Mama!"