A STORY ABOUT SPOCK

SUMMARY: A delicate story about Spock's birth and how his parents live the experience.

DISCLAIMER: Star Trek is the property of Paramount Studios, the following a non-profit work of fan fiction. No resemblance to any individual, living or dead, is intended.


A STORY ABOUT SPOCK

By T'Kaal


Sarek looked out his window at the expanse of clay and dust that lay ahead of him. The aircar ventilation systems were cranked up to maximum so that Amanda could breathe as easily as possible. His eyes were glazed over in attempted meditation, but try as he might, he could not calm down any more than his wife. She was trying to relax, too, but to no avail. The muscle contractions were becoming too frequent and too hard for her to bear. She was in labor.

He remembered T'Rea. His first wife, by rite of bond, had borne their son, Sybok. Sarek hadn't attended his birth, and had not truly seen him for over five years. After T'Rea had departed from him, they stopped speaking, and she, by law, had custody over the child. Sarek knew this relationship would not be like that. He and Amanda were too close. She called it love, but he never would fully understand that concept. Still, he was positive that they would stay together until their deaths.

And it is not often that a Vulcan is wrong.

As the driver of the emergency shuttle steered wildly to avoid something running into his path, the two flew across the interior of the aircar, Amanda ending up in Sarek's lap. She looked up at him and smiled. She had surprised him many times with her stamina and stubborn perseverance, and he was glad to be with such a woman. He returned her expression with two of his fingers extended in her direction, which she gratefully accepted.

The bond between them, joined not only by minds, but by their very souls, flowed through these fingers, strengthening it so that Sarek sent a reassuring message to her, saying "We are in this together. What ever you feel, I will feel with you." Her half-hearted smile blossomed into a grin and she slid over into her seat. He now had some idea of her condition, and was almost proud of her optimism in such a situation. I have made a good choice, he thought to himself. Her chuckle was interrupted only by the sound of sirens blaring at their arrival at the Shi'Kahr medical facility. They exchanged a last thought of reinforcement and assurance before Amanda was carried off by the medical technicians into the emergency room.

Sarek had been so concerned with the condition of his wife, he had hardly paid attention to the purpose of this ordeal; they were having a child. He could not have anticipated the surge of emotion he felt after coming to terms with this. The knowledge that he had merged himself with another being, a being he held dearer than anything, and that act had created something. Something that would live, grow, just as he had, to become a functioning member of his society. Someone, more correctly, who would be walking, speaking proof of the bond between him and his wife. A collection of traits, qualities and imperfections, that would turn into, with their help, a person.

They had created a life.

This, in its entirety, grabbed him all at once, and he was almost struck down by it. He walked to the waiting room and sat down in one of the comfortable, padded seats. Perfect for meditation, he thought, if not so crowded. His quiet center was long gone by now; he could not have located it if he tried. Sarek was trying to think, trying to make sense of this phenomenon, this great and wonderful endeavor that was parenthood. He had heard his associates complain about their children, and he had seen those children roughing each other and behaving like his ancestors; passionate and illogical. But he could not imagine his child doing those things. Not the great soon-to-be Vulcan ambassador's child; his would be well-behaved, his would follow orders, his would show respect and act with perfect logic. He could do nothing else. Sarek would not have it. Not my boy, he thought. I will be the best father this planet has ever seen!

Sarek waited there, in quiet thought, in planning the future, in exploring all the possibilities he could, all the things he could teach his son and share with him. The secretary, a young male in his thirties, strode up to him, a med record in his hand and an expression of suppressed joy that could be detected only by a Kolinahr Master. "Sir, you may see your mate now. I will direct you to her."

Sarek inhaled so suddenly that it sounded almost like a gasp. He quickly recovered, then nodded to the secretary and was escorted down a long, surgically sterile steel hallway. The sheer perfection of the building had impressed Sarek, but now it seemed like an insane asylum on Terra that he had briefly visited. Everything in the building was so white or silver, so clean, that it seemed almost eerie to him. They approached a large door marked "birthing" and the young assistant reached over to pull open the heavy steel door.

He could see an enormous table, surrounded by med. techs and healers, tubes and dials everywhere. There was also a young woman in a white robe kneeling over by a large bed. He listened carefully, attempting to make out his wife's voice, but not even he could make it out over the many voices speaking all at the same time, not to mention the computers beeping and the medical equipment banging and crashing. He moved closer to the woman in the white robe and saw that it was T'ania, the midwife he had hired to take care of Amanda. He looked at the woman she was kneeling next to, and saw her.

Amanda, or a much more slender version of the Amanda he had seen for the last few months, lay on the diagnostic bed, her face flushed green and red at the same time, and a small white bundle in her arms. She glanced up at him and smiled vaguely, as though he were one of the medical personnel. He gave her a questioning look and moved closer, signaling for T'ania to move away. As he approached, his mate's unfocused eyes began to recognize the familiar face and Amanda's face lit up with an expression of triumph and satisfaction. She snuggled the bundle of white into her bosom and beamed at her husband. "We did it," she whispered gently. "We really did it. Now take me home."

He shushed her and took the small bundle from her arms, suddenly realizing what it was. He immediately moved it gingerly into the correct position and lifted the tiny flap over the front.

There, silently existing, sleeping contentedly, was his son.

Not for the first time, Sarek was grateful to have a human wife. The fantastically decorated living room had several comfortable couches and various armchairs, making it a special place to sit and think or talk to one another. This was very uncommon in Vulcan homes, considering the rigid code they adhered to, and having no need to relax except in meditation or in sleeping. He was currently reclining in his favorite chair, holding his child in his arms. He leaned over to study the face of the newborn. His eyes, squeezed shut since he was born, the little tuft of black hair just beginning to form on the back of his head. The delicately pointed ears set just above the folds of cloth protecting the child's fragile form. Sarek, so irresistibly relaxed and pleased, allowed a small, unobtrusive smile to creep slowly across his face. Unbeknownst to him, his wife stood in the doorway, quietly observing the pair. She stayed for but a moment, watching them lay there in the chair, completely at peace with the world. Then, without a word, she walked over and kissed them both on the forehead. She waited for Sarek's response, but he, too, had fallen fast asleep.

END