Chapter 9: Barefoot

What a difference a talk can make. After Trip had said his piece to his father they had relocated to the porch and mildly buzzed with beer Trip told some of the more 'interesting' stories of their journey.

"Seriously, dad, you have no idea," Trip laughed. "Not that she was ugly, not by a long shot. But damn, that attitude o' hers should have come with a warning label. We're down in this swamp and I sent her collecting firewood."

"Ya sent miss high-and-mighty collecting wood?"

"Yeah, and what does she come back with? A hand full o' twigs. Was pretty peeved, too. Anyways, I was pissed off like all get out."

"And knowing ya, ya told her about it," the older Charles snorted dryly.

"Sure thing. She starts berating me about being a mere commoner and stuff and we got into one helluva argument. Then she wanted to slap me and I caught her arm. We both rolled down that hill and landed in the water."

"Who woulda thunk it, wrestling princess..." Charles laughed.

"She went on yapping at me and I cussed her off and suddenly she kissed the daylights outta me."

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"No idea, she just did. There wasn't any hay around, but we took a roll in it anyways."

"Well, sure makes up for the muggin' ya got on Risa," Charles quipped between laughs.

"Then I notice that beeping noise. Turned out to be homing a beacon of some sort and one of them guys who had kidnapped her in the first place had just locked on to it. We stuffed my uniform with all sorts of junk and placed it as a decoy. Then this goon showed up and I jumped him. Gave him a good punching, but he just stood there. Could just as well have scratched my ass, would've had the same effect."

"How'd ya beat him then?"

"I didn't. He dragged me down to that lake and tried to drown me. That's when Kaitaama grabbed a big ol' branch and whacked him over the head. Guy was out cold immediately."

"Good thing she din't pull that trick on you," Charles chuckled.

"Yeah. He'd lost his weapon, so there's me in my underwear, she in the skimpiest dress that would just about be illegal in half of the galaxy, poking around in the water, when I hear Jon from behind saying, 'Trip, this a bad time?'" Trip mocked in his best Archer imitation. "Malcolm stood there with him, giving me a shit eating grin and T'Pol shot Kaitaama a death stare."

"So what happened to her?"

"Don't know. We delivered her back to her people and, if everything went OK, she should be Queen by now."

"I could listen ta yer stories all day," Charles laughed. "But sumthing's tell me ya did only tell me the funny stuff. Don't ya think we deserve ta know 'bout them humdingers too?"

"Another day, dad. Today I just wanted to hear you laugh and I know hearing it made mom's day, too."

"You're one helluva son, boy. Guess I'll hit the sack; ya mom's probably waitin' already."

"Indeed, she is," T'Pol added, coming out on the porch with a hefty manifestation of the 'Brow Of Enormous Giggle'.

"Night ya two," Charles said with a mischievous grin and left the pair alone on the porch.

"Hi, darlin'. Talked to mom?"

"I did. She showed me something called a 'baby book' - most fascinating."

"Oh dear," Trip groaned.

Suddenly T'Pol grabbed him and kissed him, hard and passionate.

"Holy ... Where did that come from?" he asked out of breath.

"You have given your mother an invaluable gift. Obviously the sound of your father's laughter has been one she has been missing for a long time."

"I know. He suffered badly when Lizzy died. We both know that by now."

"You did well," she said and unconcealed admiration sparkled in her eyes. "Your mother seemed not to be surprised that you 'forgot' to remind me to bring or buy a swimsuit," T'Pol said looking at him in a not very convincing stern manner.

Trip laughed softly. "T'Pol, this has nothing to do with forgetting something. This is our beach. Did you really think I'm gonna wear a swimsuit on my own beach?"

"But your parents... ," she reminded him.

"The moment we leave the house, the beach will be off-limits for everybody short of Jesus Christ. Mom would kill dad if he just walks a step too near the beach while we are there."

"You want to observe me in a disrobed condition," she said in mock-accusation.

"Guilty as charged. You Vulcans aren't the only ones who appreciate beauty. And besides, you want to 'observe' me too."

"Guilty as charged," T'Pol returned in obvious amusement.

"Vulcan bodies have higher body mass proportional to our sizes," T'Pol complained. "I will sink to the ground."

"Bullcrap, darlin'. You may have higher mass, but you have two times the lung capacity, at least. That should give you enough buoyancy to float just fine. Try it – I'm going to catch you if you sink."

"That's just another excuse to get your hands on my ... delicious parts, as you call certain areas of my physique."

"Would I need an excuse for that, darlin'?"

"No," she conceded, seeing her argument deflate as quickly as she had brought it up.

"You're afraid, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Okay," Trip explained. "Bend forward ... yes ... now let yourself fall forward ... keep the head up."

T'Pol floated on top of the water, Trips arms below her stomach kept her up. With the perfect efficiency of a Vulcan, she executed the arm and leg movements that Trip instructed her to perform. Engrossed in the unfamiliar activity, she never noticed, how Trip retracted his arms.

"See, it works," he said, swimming alongside. Momentarily startled, she stopped her movement and her head dipped below the water. In a quick catching movement, Trip had her above the water line again. "Try again."

She swam effortlessly after just about 20 minutes of training. There was something to be said for the superior Vulcan sense of coordination and balance.

"The water is fairly cold," she remarked with a slight shiver. While it was fairly warm by human standards, it was quite chilly for a Vulcan, so the time for splashing around was limited.

"Let's get back to the beach; I've got an idea how to warm ya up again," Trip teased her, unashamedly ogling her naked body.

"I am interested to find out what it may be."

As they walked towards the beach, each taking pleasure in admiring their respective mate's naked form, Trip noticed an amused eyebrow.

"What's so funny, darlin'?"

"Since our stay here would technically be an away mission, I cannot fail to notice that you are still remarkably undamaged, except for the cut on the sole of your foot. It appears my accompanying you makes excursions outside the ship noticeably safer."

"Funny, darlin', very funny. First of all, I got the cut because I stepped on a shell, but what fun would the beach be if you don't go barefoot – and, second, don't get used to babysitting me on away missions. Malcolm is a stickler for rules, so how often do you think you'll get away from the ship?"

"I shall find a way to deal with Malcolm."

"Let's get you dry then and warmed up," Trip said with a greedy grin, gently toweling her petite frame. Afterward he drew her into a passionate embrace, dragging her down onto the beach blanket.

Charles Tucker jr entered the kitchen, cackling about something.

"What's so funny, Charles? You haven't been peeking at 'em, have you?" Cathryn asked sternly.

"Do I look crazy, woman? I like to sleep indoors! But we shoulda told 'em that even when no one can see 'em down there, one sure as hell can hear 'em, especially when T'Pol makes such a helluva racket."

Cathryn laughed. "Oh dear – young love. Just think back to what our first weeks of marriage were like. No wonder Davey arrived almost exactly nine months later."

"We were an active team, that's fer sure. I had muscles bein' sore like hell I didn't even know I had before. Where's the beer, honey? I got a hunch that 'em lovebirds will be back any minute."

"Dinner's ready anyways. Beer is in the stasis unit."

"Well, here they come. If they keep glowin' like that, we ain't gonna need no lamp on the porch tonight," Charles chuckled, but stopped himself, before the two came into earshot.

The meal went in relative silence, mainly because the elder Tuckers were very busy fighting their grins and Trip and T'Pol were equally busy fighting their blushes.

As the sun started to set, the four sat on the porch. Trip and his father had made sure that a sufficient supply of beer was at hand and even T'Pol tried the strange beverage, seeing that Cathryn had also grabbed a bottle, hinting at a family ritual.

T'Pol made a bland face, after her first taste of beer. All human eyes were on her, waiting for the verdict.

"Obviously an acquired taste... ," she assessed with a bland look.

"Yep, and every Tucker man acquires it immediately after birth," Charles drawled.

"Since I failed to do so, it might take me a while to fully admire the taste."

"Yep, exactly 5 bottles, darlin', then it's the greatest stuff in the universe," Trip explained with a laugh.

"I did not plan to inebriate myself," T'Pol admonished him softly.

"T'was only a joke, darlin'," he replied, with a look at his father who had stopped consuming any beer hours ago. He might have overcome his problems, but there was no doubt that both his parents were still very careful about it.

"So kids, now ya both didn't talk much about the fight with the Xindi and how ya got together. I can imagine that it wasn't a walk in the park. Judgin' from Trip's transmissions it was quite an up-'n-down, until ya finally got the clue that ya love each other."

"Was quite the ride," Trip replied with a nod, looking at T'Pol for guidance, not wanting to give more details than she was comfortable with. "But actually it was really hard on Jon, too. You know him, all those ideals, dreaming of being an explorer, and there he was commanding a damn warship, looking for a bunch of people of which be knew nothing but the name. He had to make some ugly decisions - torturing people, stranding others, and giving a helluva lot eulogies."

"Trip was in no better condition," T'Pol continued. "He went into denial concerning his sister's death. He tried to work himself to complete exhaustion, but could not sleep, because disturbing images came to him in his sleep. So finally, Doctor Phlox asked me to help him using Vulcan neuropressure."

"Neuropressure?"

"First I thought, it's like a glorified backrub," Trip filled in. "But I soon found out that it's probably the most intimate thing you can do, without getting completely naked."

"That's surprising," Cathryn said, looking at T'Pol. "Considering how Vulcans are so cautious with anything intimate, you must have gone quite out of your way for that."

"It was not that surprising," the Vulcan explained. "Although neither of us would have admitted it at that time, we were already quite attracted to each other at that point. For me it was a welcome excuse to spend time with Trip without having to admit to any desire to do so. Unfortunately, it took me fairly long to see that denying one's attraction was foolish."

"Well, I wasn't any better," Trip continued as if finishing T'Pol's sentences was the most natural thing in the world. "It took T'Pol quite some twisting to get me to admit that I hat the hots for her and that was months later," Trip added, amazed how open and straight-forward she talked about such intimate things in front of her future in-laws. But that was probably just an extension of T'Pol's logic concerning Malcolm and Hoshi; his parents were family, so not too much censoring was required.

"So, how did ya deal with Lizzie's death, boy?" Charles asked.

"At that time, not at all. I was still in denial. First came Sim," Trip trailed off.

"Sim was a clone of Trip," T'Pol took over. "He had been gravely injured and the only thing that could save his life was a transplant from a compatible donor. So Phlox created a clone, who would grow to maturity in less than 2 weeks."

"So there's a second Trip out there?" Cathryn asked, horrified.

"No, Sim died during the surgery. It was expected that he would not survive the procedure. It was an instance of what Trip calls 'ugly decisions'. Both Jonathan and Trip are still deeply disturbed by the memory."

"You shoulda seen it," Trip continued in a breaking voice, silent tears running down his face. T'Pol gently dabbed at them. "I was standing there, looking at the casket and it was me in there – dead. And he had been created, just to die, so I could live. That's some guilt-trip I don't wish on anybody."

The Tucker elders watched them both with interest, but also in shock, realizing that both Trip and T'Pol had gone through some properly disturbing events in the Expanse. Especially Charles realized in that moment, how much his drunk-written letter must have hurt Trip, having accused him of running away from the consequences of their mission. Instead his son had gone through his very own version of hell. He gratefully squeezed Cathryn's hand when she took his, aware that his composure was about to be shattered.

"Do we tell them what came next?" Trip asked. His face was still tear-stained, but he had regained a modicum of composure.

"They are your family, they should know how our relationship developed, even if it is not the proudest part of my history," T'Pol said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Before Sim died, he had admitted to having a crush on T'Pol," Trip explained. "Since he was essentially me, T'Pol knew that I was interested in more than being a friend. She was, too, but we were both too messed up to really deal well with it. I was still in denial over Lizzy and she had been affected by Trellium-D, some substance that messed with her emotional control. One of the MACO's, Amanda Cole, who lived near our place in Florida, made the moves on me. First I didn't think much of it, but before you know we were doing neuropressure, mind you, far less intimate than with T'Pol."

"I became ... jealous," T'Pol took over, once again so flawlessly the Tucker parents just moved their heads as if watching a tennis match. "Jealousy is an emotion that I should not have been capable to experience, but since I foolishly exposed myself to Trellium-D at the time, I experienced strong jealousy. It even had an adverse effect on my functioning properly."

"Well, at least in the gym," Trip chuckled slightly. "I was practicing hand-to-hand combat with Amanda, while T'Pol was sparring with some other MACO. When Amanda slapped my butt, T'Pol was so busy sending her the death stare, that she didn't even notice, that the MACO had sent a right hook in her direction and he mowed her down."

"You findn' it funny, when someone knocks yer girl on her ass?" Charles asked disapprovingly.

"No dad, of course not and there was no real danger of her getting injured, but it sorta made me happy, because at that point I knew she was interested in me, as I was about to find out. When we had our neuropressure that night, she-" Trip was interrupted by his father.