NU2U: "Blood Ties", 24a/26 (TOS/AU, S/Ch, Sa, Am, Vulcan OCs, K, Mc; h/c, anx [PG13])
Gamin
pregnant
wife Christine back to Vulcan for presentation at a clan gathering,
where both run afoul of certain ultra-conservative clan-members. This
part: back at Vulcan for the babies' Initiation Ceremony, Kirk gives
T'Merit a promise ring and Sarek gives Spock some unwelcome news about
T'Pera, while everyone else "oohs" and "ahhs" over T'Jaim and
T'Krystyn.
Disclaimer: Part 1A.
******
Within days, they had arrived at Vulcan; it would be a short visit of
two or three hours at most, because the Enterprise had an assignment
elsewhere and no time for Kirk to grant more than a day's off-ship
leave time to Spock, Christine and himself, so they planned to make
the most of it.
Spock was noticeably uneasy as he and Christine approached the front
door, each holding one of the babies, with Kirk behind them, carrying
the portable playpen, even though the Vulcan had made up his mind some
time ago that he would not permit himself to be disappointed or hurt
if Sarek disapproved of
T'Jaim and T'Krystyn. Logic told Spock that that would be his
father's choice, and his father's loss--but he would not make that
choice because the children had made a bad impression.
He looked over the two of them and decided that he was pleased with
them. He had argued with Christine earlier about the
inappropriateness of the ruffled pink jumpers and pink booties that
she had selected for them to wear, but now it occurred to him that
T'Merit would appreciate seeing the children
in some of the clothing that she had given them. Spock looked down
at T'Jaim, shifting her in his arms. "It is most important that you
be...a good girl...while we are here, T'Jaim," he admonished softly,
and still with some discomfort. T'Jaim laughed at him, which did not
exactly put Spock at ease. "You must not do that in front of your
grandfather. Or your cousins,
or--"
"Spock, please. Their cousins will accept them, regardless,"
Christine interrupted, with conviction.
Spock thought of his youngest cousins and decided she was probably
right. He looked over sternly at T'Krystyn. "That applies to you as
well, T'Krystyn. You must not make any Human baby noises--no smiling,
crying or laughter--in front of your grandfather," he reiterated,
quietly but firmly.
Kirk and Christine were amused by this and both fought the urge to
laugh; Kirk lost the battle.
Spock glanced first at him, then at Christine, in confusion and
frustration. "It was not my intention to amuse you. You wanted me to
talk to them."
"And you're getting better at it," Christine consoled him gently.
"But I think you're trying too hard. As long as we stay with them,
they'll feel secure and they won't cry."
"Unless they are hungry or need their diapers changed," Spock
returned. "Vulcan infants react somewhat differently."
"Don't you think we ought to let Sarek and Amanda know we're here?"
Kirk suggested finally.
Spock drew a deep breath and released it, nodding slowly. Then he
stepped forward and rang the doorbell.
Amanda answered the door, and her eyes were quickly drawn from the
faces of Spock and Christine to the babies in their arms. An
expression of initial surprise on her face turned instantly to one of
joy as Amanda studied each of them in turn.
"Mother, allow me to introduce you to your grand-daughters," Spock
greeted her. "This is T'Jaim, and Christine has T'Krystyn."
"Oh, Spock, they're beautiful--and so different from each other!"
Amanda declared, taking T'Jaim as Spock offered the baby to her.
T'Jaim studied Amanda in wide-eyed fascination.
"They are fraternal twins, not identical," Spock reminded her evenly,
as they all followed her inside.
When they got to the parlor and Amanda returned T'Jaim to Spock's
care, Spock and Christine were surprised to find that the only guests
other than T'Pau were Setek, Savir's family, T'Merit and T'Syrith. It
was T'Syrith who greeted them first, going straight to Christine. "I
can see you now, Christine," she announced, making an obvious effort
not to sound overly eager or happy.
Christine smiled at her in response and knelt before her with
T'Krystyn still in her arms. "Can you really see me, T'Syrith--
clearly?" she questioned. It still seemed too much to hope for, even
after a year.
T'Syrith nodded, reaching out to touch Christine's face, confirming
for herself that it was the same face she had touched and learned to
associate with that name in her days of darkness. "You look just as I
thought you would, Christine. When I felt your face for the first
time, I knew that you would have to be beautiful to match what I saw
within you," she told
Christine, looking then at the child in the Human woman's arms.
"Which of my new cousins is this?"
"T'Krystyn," Christine replied, turning the baby to face T'Syrith head-
on.
T'Syrith reached out to cautiously touch T'Krystyn's nose first, then
her tiny ear-tips, noting particularly her blue eyes. "She looks like
you," T'Syrith concluded, speaking as if the combination of Human and
Vulcan physical traits was perfectly natural.
T'Krystyn began to make baby noises, then smiled, reaching out to pat
T'Syrith's nose.
T'Syrith appeared to accept this behavior as normal without taking any
offense. She leaned forward and kissed T'Krystyn on the nose.
"Welcome, Nistaisa T'Krystyn," she said then.
At that point, Spock joined them and knelt also, presenting T'Jaim.
"You should welcome both your new cousins, T'Syrith," he reminded her.
"She looks more Vulcan, and her eyes are like yours," T'Syrith
observed, reaching out experimentally to touch T'Jaim's nose,
wondering if it would produce the same reaction as it had in her
sister. T'Jaim watched her, gurgling in apparent amusement. Finally,
T'Syrith repeated her kiss and said, "Welcome, Nistaisa T'Jaim."
"Well done, T'Syrith," remarked T'Merit, coming to join her daughter
as Christine and Spock stood up again. She addressed Christine. "Her
eyesight cleared only recently. Needless to say, she has been
most...anxious.for your arrival."
Then Savir's children appeared and gathered around Spock and
Christine, all asking to see the babies. They were quieted instantly
by Savir, who, along with T'Shelya, had followed them.
"Children, allow Spock and Christine to get themselves and the babies
settled-then you may see them."
"Where should I set this playpen up?" Kirk asked-the first time he had
spoken since Amanda had met them at the door.
"Oh, Captain.over there by the chair. Follow me," Amanda instructed
him, leading him across the room, toward the armchair next to the
sofa.
As Spock and Christine started slowly after them, Savir continued,
"Storn and T'Myryn asked us to convey their regrets. By the time the
day of your arrival was known, they already had a prior commitment."
"Much of my family had the same problem, as you can see," T'Merit
added, as she walked along beside Christine. "However, I was
instructed to assure you that this was not a deliberate affront to
either you or your children. They simply had to be elsewhere."
It did not occur to either Spock or Christine not to believe her.
"Well, I'm sorry they'll miss seeing T'Jaim and T'Krystyn," Christine
admitted. "For all I know, they could be teenagers by the time we
make it back here."
T'Merit raised an eyebrow at her. "I trust you are exaggerating."
It was then, as they waited for Amanda and Kirk to finish setting up
the playpen, that Sarek finally came from across the room to greet
them; behind Sarek, they could see T'Pau and Setek approaching. Spock
and Christine regarded Sarek uncertainly as he studied T'Jaim and
T'Krystyn, who both became unusually quiet as he neared them and they
returned his gaze. Sarek
had seen their reactions to T'Syrith and knew they must be strongly
influenced by their Human ancestry, as he had suspected they would be,
but that seemed to be of little consequence at the moment. What he
noticed most of all was their appearance, and how different they were
from each other.
"So these are my grandchildren," he observed finally. "They seem
unaffected by the drug they were exposed to."
"Dr. McCoy concluded that, since it induced labor as soon as it took
effect, there wasn't time for enough of it to get into their bodies to
have any lingering after-effects, once they'd survived the birth,"
Christine informed him warily.
"There have been no signs at all since then?" Sarek questioned,
finding it difficult to believe.
Christine shook her head. "So far, they're fairly healthy. They're
underweight, but that's normal for premature babies."
As Sarek was trying to decide how to respond to this, T'Krystyn
suddenly leaned toward him, holding her arms out and waving them.
"What is she doing?" Sarek asked, puzzled.
"She wants you to hold her," Christine revealed hesitantly. T'Krystyn
and T'Jaim had spent their first months of life as she prayed they
would spent the rest of it--in a loving environment where they were
touched and held (as much as possible) whenever they wished, and even
their father was learning to
express his emotions toward them as well as toward his other loved
ones. They had never before had any reason to believe that it would
be wrong to expect that physical contact. Christine
hoped that Sarek would bear this in mind, however he chose to respond.
Sarek studied T'Krystyn in silence for a long time, then he cautiously
took her from Christine's arms and maneuvered her awkwardly in his own
until he got her into what he remembered as the position he had
sometimes carried Spock in at the same age. T'Krystyn was delighted
and immediately began to gurgle happily. "She looks much like you,
Christine," he observed finally.
"And T'Jaim's the image of Spock," Christine pointed out proudly,
encouraged by Sarek's apparent quick acceptance of both children.
"Just look at her eyes."
Sarek looked at T'Jaim again; she was still watching him in
fascination. He glanced briefly up at Spock, who was still holding
her, and Spock raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. Sarek then
returned his eyes to T'Jaim. "Yes...so she is," he agreed quietly.
"Spock used to stare about in such a manner. Even as a baby, he had a
great interest in everything--including
things he would have done better to disassociate himself from." It
would have been easy for Sarek to become emotional about his first
real sight of his grand-daughters; they were, as Spock had called them
on the day of their birth, exquisite--but this was not the time.
T'Pau was here.
Instead, Sarek settled for carrying T'Krystyn over to where the
playpen was by now set up and Kirk was just spreading out the big,
blue IDIC quilt across the floor within it, then laying T'Krystyn
carefully on top of the quilt. As Spock and Christine approached
with T'Jaim, Setek came to join them. "Your children appear to be
physically and mentally healthy, Christine. I consider that to be of
prime importance," he told her sincerely.
Christine was given no time to express her gratitude toward him, for
T'Pau just then caught up with them as they gathered around the
playpen. "It is important," she conceded neutrally, turning to Spock
as he put T'Jaim into the playpen next to T'Krystyn. As he looked up
again, however, T'Pau added, "But I warn thee, Spock--these children
will *not* be accepted as part of the House of Surak. One of them
does not even *look* like a Vulcan."
"Nonetheless, they *are* my children and legitimate descendents of
Surak," Spock retorted coolly. "If half our clan insists on rejecting
them as they did Christine...then they are unworthy of anything but
pity."
T'Pau showed no outward sign of any emotional reaction to this, though
inwardly, she was remembering that Spock was not easily intimidated in
such matters--whether this was because of his Vulcan training or, more
likely, due to long years of experience in dealing with his Human
half, she had never
quite ascertained. But he had proven during his last visit that clan
antagonism toward those who were most important to him did no more
than embarrass him, and even *that* had only made him more determined
than ever to cling to his small circle of Humans and live his own
life, whether his clan approved or not.
"Very well, thee have been warned," she concluded finally.
"Decide where thee wishes to have the Initiation Ceremony. I would
prefer to be done with it as soon as possible."
"I had thought the garden would be an appropriate setting," Spock
returned.
"Spock, I think the babies should eat first," Christine pointed out,
as she leaned over the edge of the playpen, still fussing over
T'Krystyn.
Spock glanced down at her, nodding in acknowledgement, then looked
back at T'Pau. "After they eat," he told her factually.
"So be it," T'Pau agreed reluctantly. As she moved off to wait
elsewhere, her eyes caught Sarek's and they communicated silently for
a moment before she continued on her way.
Sarek turned then to his son. "Spock, I must speak to you in
private," he stated abruptly.
Spock deduced from his father's tone that Sarek's need was urgent and
cocked an eyebrow at him again in puzzlement. Then he glanced over his
shoulder at Amanda. "Mother, perhaps
you would like to help Christine feed the children," he suggested.
"I'd love to," Amanda admitted, looking not at Spock but at
Christine. "Would you mind?" she asked uncertainly.
"Of course not," Christine assured her, reaching to pick up T'Jaim,
handing her carefully to Amanda, then reaching into her baby bag and
pulling out the bottles.
In the mean time, Sarek took Spock some distance away from the others.
"What is it, Sarek?" Spock asked.
Ignoring the undertone of impatience in his son's voice, Sarek spoke
with his eyes on the babies as Amanda and Christine fed them rather
than on Spock. "Spock, T'Pera has been released," he revealed
gravely. "There was no sign of any form of mental aberration found
within her. Under our laws, as you know, she could not be held longer
than six months, without proof of
mental illness. She has been remanded to T'Pau's custody."
Spock controlled the astonishment that was his instinctive reaction to
this, hoping to keep it from showing as he followed Sarek's gaze back
to where Christine and Amanda sat feeding T'Jaim and T'Krystyn, with
the other children gathered around, watching in fascination. Again,
Spock vividly recalled Christine's terrifying nightmare about T'Pera.
"But T'Pau is *here*, now. Is someone watching T'Pera?" he demanded,
his voice betraying
his sudden anxiety.
Sarek nodded. "She left T'Pera under guard by her aides. I presume
these precautions are sufficient, but I thought it advisable to tell
you."
"Does Mother know?"
Sarek raised an eyebrow at him. "I saw no reason to tell her. It
would only upset her, and T'Pera's...obsession...seems so far focused
on you and your children."
"'So far'," Spock echoed darkly, still thinking of Christine's
nightmare. "However, I would suggest that nothing more be said of
this, especially in front of Mother and Christine."
Sarek studied him warily, trying vainly to read the emotions he saw in
the younger Vulcan's eyes. "Spock, if you know of some threat T'Pera
may have made against your mother that I am not aware of, you will not
help her by keeping it to yourself," he pointed out suspiciously.
"I know of no such threat, Sarek," Spock returned quietly, knowing it
would be pointless to mention the nightmare. It was, after all,
illogical to base any apprehensions on a nightmare--particularly one
Spock himself had not experienced.
"Nonetheless, my recommendation stands," he insisted.
"I had not planned to tell either of them unless it becomes
necessary," Sarek assured him.
While Sarek and Spock talked and Amanda and Christine were occupied
with the babies, Kirk drew T'Merit aside to talk to her. "I was
wondering if we would have any time alone together while you were
here," T'Merit admitted, keeping her voice low.
"And *I* was wondering if you'd changed your mind about me," Kirk
responded cautiously.
"No, Jim, I have not," T'Merit asserted. "I have thought of you
frequently and discussed you with T'Syrith, in an effort to prepare
her for either of two possibilities: that each time we see you may
be the last, or that you might finally agree to bond with me so we
could marry. She has been reluctant to become attached to someone who
may or may not remain a part of her life."
"Well, I have something for you that might make that a little easier,"
Kirk told her then, producing his small box and opening it to reveal
the ring inside.
T'Merit caught her breath, reacting visibly to the presentation of
Kirk's gift. "I have heard Amanda and Spock speak of Human courtship
customs," she recalled softly, at last. "Now I regret not having
listened more closely. If I accept this ring, does it mean you will
marry me?"
Kirk could not help smiling at the eagerness that still seemed to
remain within her after all this time. Apparently, the days of her
unwillingness to risk the inevitable family disruption that marrying
a Human would cause were long past. "You're thinking of an engagement
ring. This is a 'promise ring'," he explained gently.
"It just means that my feelings about you are genuine and that someday
I *do* plan to ask you to marry me--when I'm sure we're both ready."
T'Merit admired the ring as it sat in its box, not yet daring to take
it. "I could not wear such a thing if I still had to share you with
other women."
"And I wouldn't give it to you if I expected you to," Kirk interrupted
reassuringly.
Finally, T'Merit was convinced. "Then I will accept your ring," she
decided, taking it carefully out of the box and slipping it onto her
finger. "But please do not wait too long for 'someday'."
Kirk nodded understandingly.
END PART 24A
My ST:TOS Fan-Fiction can be found here:
GAMIN DAVIS' SPOCK TREKS
http://spocktreks.bravehost.com
(Kirk & Spock Friendship, Spock/Christine
and pre-TOS Spock fan-fic, plus Art, Poetry,
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