The BLTS Archive - Unnamed series:
The Second Shift
by Isla (islaofhope@aol.com

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This story takes place after "No Regrets," and sometime in the middle
of "The Calm You Seek."  *This* T'Aaneli has three young children and
is Spock's aunt.  Selek is Spock's and Leila's biological child, but
Spock went to Gol - without knowing about the baby - and Leila signed
over custody to Jim.

Disclaimer:  All that is Star Trek belongs to Paramount. The rest of
it - well, I just made it up - especially the part about the care and
feeding of a one-year old!  This is fan fiction, and I won't make any
money from it.

Thanks to my betas, Jat Sapphire and T'Aaneli, who monitor me to keep
me out of trouble while I time-travel in my stories.

This story was written as part of the SmutBaby Nursery as a gift to
Pamela, the feedback Queen, and, her little princess, Nikita.
Congratulations on your bundle of joy, Pam, and welcome to the world,
Nikita!

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Jim spotted T'Aaneli right away when he walked into the spaceport.
For a Vulcan, she had an amazingly expressive face, and the expression
it now wore was disapproval.  Well, he didn't blame her for being
annoyed with him.  He was fifteen minutes late.

"Hey, T, sorry I'm late.  Nogura was chewing on my ear, so I had a
tough time getting away."  He held out his arms, but she gave no sign
that she was willing to hand over the baby.

"Jim, I do not care what type of physical affection that your friend
wished to show you when you left.  Now that you are a parent, I expect
you to be more responsible."

He almost laughed.  Most people would consider the fact that he had
been a starship captain for five years and Admiral, Chief of
Operations for the last two years, adequate proof that James T. Kirk
was a responsible person.  However, T'Aaneli had some doubts about his
ability to do something as simple as take care of his year-old son
without assistance during his trip to Vulcan.  "Nogura wasn't chewing
on my ear as a sign of affection.  He was trying to convince me that
he couldn't spare me for two weeks."

She launched into a lecture on the proper care and feeding of a
one-year old, and he half-listened as he adjusted the diaper bag on
his shoulder and managed to pry Selek out of her arms.  Selek gazed at
Jim rapturously, threw his arms around his adoptive father's neck, and
deposited a wet kiss on his cheek.   "Sel.  Are you ready for this,
son?"  He chuckled as he smoothed back the hair on the boy's head,
noting that they were both wearing their hair in almost the same short
crewcut.  His had been growing back for about a month, darker and
coarser than he remembered it from before, and he secretly envied
Sel's baby-fine, almost-golden crop.  Of course, Sel didn't answer
beyond a happy flood of baby talk.  Jim glanced at T'Aaneli.  "Do you
have any idea what he's saying?  How long will it be until I start to
understand him?"

A slight smile lit her eyes.  "I believe he is saying that he is
pleased to be with you."  She put out a hand to stroke the child's
hair, too.  "Jim, are you quite certain that you are recovered
sufficiently to make this trip with your son?  I can certainly arrange
to accompany you."

"Sweetheart, I've been taking care of Sel most nights and weekends
since I brought him home - I know that you got stuck with him a lot
when I was sick - "

"And more recently when you have allowed your workaholic tendencies to
once more emerge," she said with a frown, and then she nearly smiled.
"It is not accurate to say that I was 'stuck with him.'  It has been a
pleasure to care for him.  He is an even-tempered, bright child."

Jim brushed a kiss across Sel's forehead.  "Unlike his idiotic parents
- and I include myself in that category even if I'm not his 'real'
father."

She frowned again and made a minute adjustment to Selek's shirt.  "You
are his 'real' father.  Although you contributed no genetic material,
you have given him the care and love that he requires."

Shifting the child into a more comfortable position against him, Jim
slung his travel bag over his free shoulder.  "You won't be insulted,
will you, if I tell you that it surprises me a little to hear a Vulcan
tell me that 'love' outweighs genetic material in determining
paternity?"

T'Aaneli touched Jim's arm.  "I am, perhaps, not a typical Vulcan.  I
have lived among Terrans for nine point five years and am raising my
children here.  However, even parents who live on Vulcan 'love' their
children.  The difference is that they do not say the word.  A
parent's love for a child is a universal concept, an instinctive
response that Nature gives parents to compensate for the fact that
children often give more trouble than they do joy in the early years
of their lives."   With a chuckle, Jim said, "I think my mother would
agree with that.  Although I'm not sure that I've ever stopped giving
her more trouble than I have joy - even at my age."

"I was pleased to see your mother again last week.  She appeared to
be...accepting...of your situation with Selek."

"Accepting?  She was thrilled to have another grandson."  Jim glanced
at the chronometer.  "I've gotta go, T.  The shuttle leaves in 30
minutes, and I want to be sure that he's settled.  It's his first
space flight, and I don't know how he's going to react."

T'Aaneli crossed her arms across her chest.  "I am certain that he
will take to it immediately.  He will have to if he wishes to keep up
with his father.  I cannot imagine you long remaining on Terra. "  She
studied his face.  "You look well, Jim.  Are you?"

He leaned forward to kiss her cheek.  " I'm fine.  Do you think Bones
would've left if I weren't?"

"No, of course not."  She continued to study him.  "Amanda must be
very  excited about meeting her grandson."

Jim rubbed Selek's back, pleased that the child had dozed off on his
shoulder.  "She doesn't know yet.  It's sort of complicated...maybe
it's a mistake, but I was just going to show up at their house.  She's
always  been...kind to me, but the last time I saw her, our relations
were a little strained."

"Understood."  T'Aaneli touched the back of Jim's hand.  "Do not
worry.  When she meets her grandchild, she will be too pleased to ask
many questions.  Grandchildren always have that effect.  The
grandparents are too pleased with the new child to repeat their old
patterns of conflict with the parents."

With a smile, Jim said, "I really do have to go.  I'll see you in a
couple of weeks."  He kissed her cheek again, before he turned to walk
toward the shuttle.

"I want to hear everything."

Jim laughed and, over his shoulder, he said, "I'll send you a subspace
message with all of the juicy details."

Threading his way through the throng of people, he was stopped a
couple of times by women who insisted on exclaiming over the baby.  He
had a vague memory of a friend - maybe it had been Gary Mitchell - who
said that a baby was a great way to meet women. Well, "meeting
someone" was the last thing on his mind right now.  As he made his way
to his assigned cabin for the journey, he nodded to several people
that he knew.

In his job it was important for him to "network" - even if it was only
for good public relations for Starfleet.  So he would socialize later.
But right now, he didn't have time to be an admiral; he had too much
to do in his second shift as Selek's dad.

He placed Selek on the bed before he put down his bags.  First order
of  business was to check Sel's diaper.  Of course, it needed to be
changed.   Diaper technology may have improved since the first time
the things were  invented - more absorbent, more recyclable, and more
comfortable - but  changing a baby was still a hands-on experience.
He remembered how clumsy he had been the first time that T'Aaneli had
supervised him changing Sel, but he had always been a quick learner.

"Hungry, Sel?"  Of course, he was.  As he selected a bottle from the
bag that T'Aaneli had packed for him, he wondered if babies were
efficient processors of formula.  It seemed like it went in one end
and out the other far too quickly.  He hadn't spent much time with
other babies, but everyone assured him that Selek was perfectly
normal.

Perfectly normal?  Jim gazed down at his son, who was calmly suckling
his bottle.  He was beautiful.  Well, maybe he was extremely biased -
he knew that it was a pretty common reaction in new parents, but Jim
had been told the same by plenty of people.  He had never seen light
hair and golden eyes on a Vulcan, and, at first, it had seemed jarring
combined with tiny pointed ears and the upswept eyebrows, but he'd
been assured that it wasn't unknown.

Bottle finished and properly burped, Selek was ready to play.  Jim had
an old memory of playing catch with his own father, and he didn't
doubt that this quarter-Vulcan child would have excellent eye-hand
coordination and reflexes.  Well, for now, their favorite game was a
combination of tickling and "hide the ball."  He wondered if he was
corrupting Selek by making the boy chortle with delight, but Jim was
raising him to be both Terran and Vulcan.  Jim wouldn't know for years
whether he was making the right choices for his son - but did parents
ever know?   

After a time, he settled into a chair with Selek asleep in his arms
and felt the engines powering up.  Later he would go talk to the
captain of the shuttle.  He was surprised to find how relaxing it was
to hold the sleeping child in his arms and rock gently back and forth.
More soothing than petting a tribble.  He smiled at the thought.  He
had never been the type to be interested in "being soothed."
Parenthood made lots of interesting changes.

He spent a moment trying to decide what he was going to tell Amanda
and Sarek about the boy.  Perhaps they would be too polite to ask.
Vulcans were a notoriously courteous group.

His mind drifted over the last couple of weeks.  He had left Selek
with  T'Aaneli far too much, but he'd been determined to finish
everything that Nogura asked him to do.  He hadn't changed into the
kind of man who only cared about pleasing his superior, but he knew
that Nogura wasn't the only one who still had doubts about his
fitness.  Well, he was determined to show them that James T. Kirk was
still the same man he'd always been.

When he'd returned from the Enterprise's five-year mission as the
"golden boy" of Starfleet, he'd been too content with his life to much
care what people thought of him.  He'd never been interested in public
adulation.  Then his life slowly fell apart around him...Spock leaving
for Gol, Bones' diagnosis of Jim's illness, Leila's revelations...all
the events that he didn't let himself think about.  His grip tightened
on Selek, and the boy woke with a sob of protest, but Jim soon soothed
him back to sleep.

Lately, he'd been fantasizing about getting the Enterprise back.  He
knew that Will Decker was a few months away from completing the refit
and taking her out.  But, of course, Jim Kirk wasn't going to take off
for another five-year mission and leave Selek permanently with
T'Aaneli and her family.

Not that he could convince Nogura to give him back the ship anyway.
It was too late.  It belonged to another man now.  Besides, why would
he want to go back out on the Enterprise without his first officer and
his chief medical officer, his two best friends that he had somehow
pushed away?

No, he had a son to think about now.  And watching him sleep, he knew
that having Selek was enough.  Maybe when the boy was a little
older... But before he'd formed any new plan in his head, Jim fell
asleep, snoring so softly that it didn't wake the baby.

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The End