The BLTS Archive- Running Out of Time
by Aquarius (solos_slave@somerescue.com)

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DISCLAIMER: Enterprise and the characters and situations
this story is based on are the property of CBS/Paramount. I
just used them here for my own amusement. Relax, nobody made
any money off this story.

A/N: This was a response to the autumn writing prompt at
a-larger-world.com, in which we were to choose a couple and
write about them in the "autumn" of their relationship. I
chose Trip and T'Pol because there are circumstances unique
to them that I couldn't explore through any other pairing's
dynamic at that time in their lives. I'm not sure how much I
like this or how well it actually fits in with my
still-forming vision of what Trip and T'Pol's future will be
like, but doing this exercise gave me some food for thought
for when I am prepared to write them at this stage of their
relationship and mean it.

Natch, it disregards "The Abomination."

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Sometimes I worry about what she's gonna do when I'm gone.

Don't get me wrong. T'Pol could take care of herself long
before I came along. It's not about that. I just worry about
her being lonely. She's still got another whole lifetime
ahead of her after I buy the farm.

Hey, it's not like I’m planning on going anywhere anytime
soon. But I'd be lying if I said we didn't know the
difference in our life spans was gonna be an issue
eventually. We've just tried not to think about it much. It
seemed like we had all the time in the world back then.

After thirty-odd years together it's getting kind of hard to
ignore. She's just as gorgeous as the day I met her, and
barely looks any older. For her people, she's barely
approaching middle-age.

I'm starting to look like I could be her dad—if she wasn't a
Vulcan, that is. I bet people see us together and think it's
some kind of demented trophy wife thing. I usually think
it's funny. . .

. . . until I think about how long she's gonna be alone.
Like I said, we didn't think about it much, because there
wasn't really anything we could do about it, except maybe
not get together. And that wasn't going to happen.

We had bigger, more important things to worry about back
then. Besides the usual man/woman stuff most people go
through, we had our share of misunderstandings due to
cultural differences. Then Starfleet wasn't too thrilled
when they found out about us. And then there was all that
racial bullshit from those whackjob bigots who didn't
approve of our "mixed" relationship.

Back then, things always seemed like they were sink-or-swim
for us.

Eventually, we learned how to float. But it took a lot of
time. And patience. And maybe some of that damn Vulcan
stubbornness, because I think the hard parts were hardest on
her. She's got nothing on Vulcan any more. She doesn't talk
about it; things are supposed to be different there now but
I get the impression that any relatives she has left don't
want much to do with her. We haven't exactly been invited to
any family barbeques or anything. They probably think I
corrupted her, made her less Vulcan than she's supposed to
be or something.

So all she's got are me and the kids. They turned out great,
mostly because of their mom, I think. Somehow she took all
the craziness and dysfunction that happens when a Human and
a Vulcan get together and start a family and made it all
make sense, and somehow we were able to raise two reasonably
well-adjusted individuals.

T'Pol went through hell bringing them into the world,
though. There were always doctors and tests and samples and
scopes. . . and the miscarriages before they got our genes
matched up just right. Like I said, she always got the brunt
of any punch we were thrown; all I was good for was holding
her hand through it all. Finally we were blessed with not
one but two full-term pregnancies and it was like the
universe finally smiled at us. I look at our two beautiful
children and I wonder how anyone could say it's wrong
because of politics or race or culture.

We Tuckers are a culture all our own. We've had to be. And
we like it that way.

Our kids are grown now, away starting their own lives. We
miss having them around, but I'm not gonna lie: I like
having their mom all to myself again. Did I mention she's
gorgeous?

Yeah, I know: a Vulcan with sex appeal. Who'da thought?

But she's so much more than that. For one thing, she's
easily the smartest person I've ever met. For another,
she'll deny it, but she's got this subtle sense of humor—you
just have to know how to listen for it. The combination
makes her so much fun to argue with.

She's seen me at my worst. She brings out my best.

She "gets" me. . . most of the time.

Everything good in my life, I have because of her.

And I know someday I'm gonna have to leave it all behind,
and her with it.

Hopefully I'll keep aging gracefully. I don't wanna end up
one of those gomers in the Starfleet Home for Dirty Old
Engineers and become that "obligation" she has to deal with
until I finally kick. That's all she needs, to hang around
watching me waste away when she should be out there living.

It hasn't come to that yet, not even close. But face it: I'm
not getting any younger, and by our standards, she isn't
getting much older. So I've started thinking about it
sometimes. She's got –what?--another 100 years or so ahead
of her after I'm gone. Is she gonna go back to Starfleet? To
Vulcan?

Is she gonna find someone else?

Yeah, I think about that. I think about wanting her to move
on and be happy. Sure, the idea makes me a little jealous,
but I'm not gonna be selfish. She's got too much time ahead
of her to be all alone.

But then I wonder, would anyone else love her and appreciate
her the way I do? Will they "get" her the way I do? Could
another man possibly be as lucky as I am?

I guess I'll never know.

All I can do is be thankful for every minute of every day I
still have with her, and do everything I can to make sure we
have as many days as possible.

I'd do anything to stay with her forever, but the writing's
on the wall: we're slowly running out of time.

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The End