Snippet 4c

Spock looked up at her, his eyes uncharacteristically weary and relieved and as he reached up to take the small bundle in his arms. He looked down at the little face, his eyes lighting briefly as he looked down at the little being that was his newborn son. "Hello, t'hy'la." he said quietly, reaching forward to touch his finger to the small hand that was resting lightly on its blanket. "You are smaller than I expected."

The baby responded to the touch, opening big, sleepy brown eyes to look up at his father. He let out a little coo, snuggling into the blankets and closer to Spock, as though knowing immediately that that was where he belonged.

Just then, the door to the balcony opened, and Lesh'ar's tall figure stepped out into the sunlight. He made his way over to the bed, already meeting Spock's gaze as he moved to sit down beside him. He said nothing for a moment, a light smile simply touching his face as he took in the sight before him, his eyes moving to rest on the baby boy that Spock held.

"And he is here," he said simply after another moment, reaching out a hand to lightly touch the baby's soft cheek. "He is perfect, Spock."

Spock nodded, his eyes still on the baby's perfect face. "He has your eyes."

Lesh'ar nodded slightly. "But he has your face," he observed, watching as the baby blinked open his eyes again, looking up curiously and sleepily at them - something almost akin to joy coming to his tiny face when he saw that both of his parents were now there with him. Lesh'ar moved to briefly touch the baby's tiny hand.

"He is happy to see you," Spock said quietly, brushing the baby's cheek with his finger as his eyes looked from one parent to the other.

"He is happy," Lesh'ar agreed, smiling slightly again as the baby gurgled happily, batting his tiny arms slightly. Lesh'ar reached up gently to take one of the tiny hands in his. "I think perhaps we should consider that name you spoke of several months ago for him."

"I believe it suits him," Spock agreed, watching as the happy eyes met his. He smiled briefly. "Schaven."

"Schaven," Lesh'ar repeated, his tone agreeing with Spock's as they both gazed down at their newborn son. He moved his hand again, this time to rest it over the hand Spock was using to hold onto the baby's tiny fingers. "Hello, Schaven."

-----***-----

Two weeks later

---**---

"...ondition is finally lifting.........should be coming around...."

"....stable.......movement possible....."

"...vital signs good. Stable...."

"...Dr. McCoy? Can you hear us?"


Unfamiliar, blue-tinged light pierced McCoy's eyes the moment they opened in the slightest. Faces - three of them - were bent over him, staring down at him over face masks that were nearly the same color as the light was. The room was unfamiliar, as were the people in front of him.

"Dr. McCoy," one said again, very slowly. "...can you hear us?"

McCoy opened his mouth just slightly, but he couldn't seem to make his lips form words. He blinked in the light, attempting to turn away.

"He's conscious - but barely responsive," one of the voices said quickly. The attention they were giving him reminded McCoy vaguely of the standard procedure for dealing with someone who had just come out of a...coma of some sorts. The light was dimmed slightly when one of the medical personnel leaned over him. "...check his vitals again."

"Stable."

"Pulse?"

"Steady."

"Good, good," the face tried to make its way into McCoy's line of sight again when he opened his eyes. "...welcome back, Dr. McCoy. We're glad to have you with us again."

McCoy frowned, blinking as he tried to make the face come into focus. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, his voice broken and barely understandable.

"Take it easy, sir. Everything is fine," another doctor moved forward, pulling down her mask as she looked at him. He didn't recognize her any more than he recognized the others. "You're at Federation Base 012. You've been in a coma for over two weeks."

Two weeks. Back in the early 2000s, being in a coma for that long would seem like nothing. But in the 2250s, two weeks in a coma - with a survival story at the end of it - was almost unheard of.

"We brought you here to save you," another doctor said, sounding pleased with himself. "No one thought you would survive - but we knew we'd found a way. You saved the entire crew of the Enterprise, Dr. McCoy. There was no way we could let you die."

McCoy frowned, squinting away from the light. "You mean that was real?"

"Yes, it was very real," one of the doctors nodded reverently. "Help came at the last second, and somehow they managed to pull you out of there nearly a second after the ship collided with the Sartorian vessel. It was truly a miracle."

"And one Starfleet is very grateful for," the first doctor smiled at him. "You're truly a hero, Dr. McCoy. We wanted to tell everyone that you'd been rescued from the ship, but we did not know at that time if you would survive. Your wounds were very severe."

"But you're healing nicely," the woman doctor beamed at him. "You just rest, and you'll be up and about in no time."

"Wait-" McCoy said over her, suddenly very alarmed. "You mean Jim doesn't know I'm alive?!"

"No, sir. No one does." The doctor said gravely. "We had no idea whether or not you would survive, and you had already been presumed dead. Can you imagine the mess if we'd said we'd rescued you only to have you die all over again?"

"It would be quite problematic," another doctor agreed.

"Well get him on the damn comm!" McCoy demanded, his voice giving out on him at the end despite his fury.

"No, sir. You need to rest," the female doctor moved forward again, reaching for something that looked suspiciously akin to a sedative infuser. "You're in no condition to speak to anyone right now. We promise you'll see the captain just as soon as you're able to get up."

"Don't you use that," McCoy said, attempting in vain to struggle as the doctor's came around to restrain him. "Don't you--"

Click. The snap of the infuser at his wrist already reached his ears, and McCoy vaguely heard the voices of the doctor trying to soothe him as unconsciousness gradually began to come over him.

"...it's all right, Dr. McCoy...[i]"

"...[i]everything will be all right..."

*

"Dammit, Jim, you put that thing away right now."

"Forget it, Bones, this is important! You never know when we'll need video evidence that you're actually a doctor!"

"Everyone in the damn galaxy knows I'm a doctor. Now put it away - that light gives me a headache.""

The holographic camera turned to look at Kirk's face again, who gave it a long-suffering smile. "This is one of his better days. The days he doesn't believe in technology."

"Is that thing still on?" McCoy demanded from his seat at his desk, the camera moving to focus on him again as he gave Kirk a disbelieving look. "You know those lights can give you brain cancer."

"Like transporters, holograph cameras are now a deadly risk to the human race," Kirk's voice chuckled from behind the camera, which was still focused on McCoy's annoyed face. "They must all be burned in effigy of science's greatest endeavors..."


The scene continued on, and Kirk continued to hold it up for Rosie to see, her huge blue eyes fixed hypnotically on the vision of the dark-haired man that her daddy was talking to in the previously recorded image.

"That's your pa, Rosebud," Kirk murmured, as he always did when he showed her the images from the camera. He lifted a finger to point out McCoy's sometimes exasperated, sometimes smiling face in the next images that followed. "He sure hated these things...but I knew they'd come in handy. And, see? You look just like him. I told you."

Rosie cooed, batting a tiny hand at the image of McCoy's face. Her little fingers when right through the hologram, but she smiled anyway, as though satisfied that she thought she was getting to touch him. Kirk had done his utmost to make sure that McCoy's face was as familiar to her as possible...and so far, it seemed to be working. She smiled every time she saw him.

Finally, the last image ended, and Kirk closed the camera, slowly putting it away. He swallowed back the excruciating pain that rose in his chest, lifting his baby girl closer to him and letting her snuggle against him contentedly for a while. It was still so painful to so much as glimpse those memories that he'd recorded so long ago....but every bit of it was worth it to know that Rosie could remember what her other daddy looked like.

Taking in a deep breath, Kirk glanced at his watch, checking the time before he stood up and walked over to pick up his communicator and attach it to his belt. It was time to head down to the transporter room and meet Spock and Lesh'ar. Both of them were finally returning to the Enterprise after...well, what Kirk had teasingly called 'maternity leave' for Spock...to resume their duties after spending the first couple weeks caring for their newborn son on Vulcan. It would be good to have them back.

"Ready to go, Rosebud?" he smiled at Rosie, who was already looking expectantly at the door. She could tell something exciting was going on, and gave a little squeal of delight when Kirk kissed her cheek and started out of their quarters.

They made their way down to the transporter room, Kirk putting up with several crew members - as usual - slowing in their tracks to smile and wave adoringly at Rosie as they passed. She took in all in, of course, smiling back and batting her hand at each one of them. That was one way she did take after Kirk, in her love for attention.

Coming up to the door, Kirk walked inside, nodding to Scotty and the other redshirts who were gathered there to welcome the Vulcans back. "Hey, Scotty. How's the weather down on Vulcan?"

"Sunny an' hot, sir," Scotty chortled, typing in some coordinates on the console before him. "I imagine Mr. Spock and Dr. Lesh'ar'll be keepin' their room pretty warm after havin' ta come back here."

"Undoubtedly," Kirk smiled, nodding and bouncing Rosie slightly as he looked toward the transporter pad. "Beam them up whenever you're ready."

"Ready now, sir," Scotty said, moving his hand up the console. "Energizin'!"

Two (and one little) swirls of yellow light appeared on the transporter pad - and a second later, Spock, Lesh'ar, and their new tiny baby boy appeared inside the room. Kirk felt an odd sense of relief at having them back.

"Welcome back, you guys," he said, stepping forward with a smile to greet them, and holding up a hand in the Vulcan salute. "How was maternity leave?"

"Pleasant, captain," Lesh'ar said patiently, placing his hand on Spock's back (in a regal sort of way, Kirk thought) as the two of them stepped forward. "However, we are glad to be back."

"Shucks," Kirk said, giving him and Spock a slightly teasing smile before he stepped forward, bending slightly to look at the bundle in Spock's arms. "Well, well, well...look what we have here. It's a mini Mr. Spock, Rosie."

"He's a button!" Scotty exclaimed affectionately, coming forward instantly to look at the baby. "Ohhh...why, Mr. Spock - he looks jus' like you."

"He's got Lesh'ar's eyes, though," Kirk observed. "Dark and menacing."

"He knows a ridiculous human when he sees one," Spock replied, stepping off of the transporter pad and nodding to the bundle in Kirk's arms. "She has grown well."

"Yeah. She'll be bigger than a loaf of bread one of these days," Kirk said, turning fond eyes on his daughter as he lifted her up to kiss her round cheek. "She's already working on holding her own head up, can you believe that?"

"It is quite normal, actually," Lesh'ar intoned. "But - yes, a good achievement."

"Thank you, Buzz Killington." Kirk said, before turning back to Spock. "How'd your mom take it? Did she start crying all over the place in front of your dad?"

"She was very pleased," Spock replied, moving Schaven to a more secure place in his arms. "Have you returned to duty?"

Kirk nodded. "Yesterday," he said, his tone somber as he let Rosie nuzzle back against him. "Chapel's been trying to get me to take more time off, but that won't do anyone any good. Rosie's quiet enough to stay with me on the Bridge, anyway."

"We have a nursery here, sir," one redshirt piped up helpfully.

Kirk cast him a baleful look. "Thank you," was all he said before turning back to Spock. "I'm guessing you'll be returning to duty right away then, too? Doctors orders or not?"

"Schaven is very well behaved," Spock replied. "I see no reason to delay my return."