Mother's Day On Two Worlds
Title: “Mother's Day on Two Worlds”
Pairing: K/S
Rating: G
Feedback: any ol' time, starshadow AT starshadow DOT net
Disclaimer: ParaBorg owns the boys. I own the words I write and some
computer parts and aging software. No profit being made.
I think I stole Grandma being befuddled from Farfalla, but I added a bit
to it. If she yells at me, I'll take Grandma out, but frankly, I think
Grandma would be insulted.
Archive: ASC, ASCEML and the usual. All others, please ask.
Betas: Pat and Frank. Thanks.
All mistakes mine. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms.
-------------
Communique From Captain James T Kirk, USS Enterprise
To: Sarah Kirk, Riverside, Iowa, North America, Earth
Stardate 3479.2
Dear Mom,
Just a word to let you know we are still alive and well. I can't tell
you exactly where we are right now, as it's still classified, but I
should be able to let you know by my next visit home, which might be as
early as October, local time. This is supposed to reach you by Mother's
Day. Let me know if it did. StarFleet will route any incoming packets to
the right place.
I hope you got the package I sent you, along with the one from Spock.
Spock says to tell you that the kal-toh game is for Peter, and he's sent
a tape of instructions. He says the robe he sent should be suitable for
around the house comfort wear. It's a family style, he says, and one his
own mother likes, though he says he chose the color to suit you, not
tradition. He says if it doesn't fit, call the number on that card he
enclosed and they'll send you the kit to get the correct fit, and have
it back to you within a week.
Mom, you can stop worrying so much. Really, Spock and I are fine. You
really have to stop paying attention to the newsreels. They make things
look lots worse than they are. Yes, we're in a hazardous profession, but
it's not like we face danger with every planetfall. Lots of places we
visit are just boring hunks of rock, nothing on them larger than a
paramecium, if that. It was just bad luck that Sam and Aurelan got
caught in that plague. This kind of thing doesn't happen every week,
despite what the geraldos would have you believe. A lot of our work is
just mapping.
Be sure to tell Grandma that we loved the cookies she sent, okay? Spock
said they had a most interesting texture. Please tell her again that
Spock is a man, and while he appreciates the jewelry for its asthetic
and sentimental value, he is not going to be wearing the pearl necklace
that was Great-Aunt Margaret's. I keep trying to explain to her that the
“nice Vulcan woman I married” is male, but she just doesn't seem to get
it. Maybe if you told her it would sink in. I sent her some flowers for
Mother's Day via a local service and she should have gotten them by now.
If not, let me know, will you? Ask if she liked the bedjacket. She's
been asking for another one for a while.
Anyway, Mom, I have to go now. Have a happy Mother's Day. Give Peter my
love. And Spock sends his best.
Love,
Jimmy.
-----------
“Jimmy?”
“It's my mom, Spock. Didn't your mother have a pet name for you?”
Spock grew silent, and his ears turned slightly green as he
remembered...his eyes shifted inward and he lifted his eyebrow, trying
to throw Jim off the scent. “Pet name?”
“Yeah, Spock, I saw that look. What was it? Spocky? Pocky? Wait, I
know--” he thought for a moment. “Elf!” Seeing Spock's face, he
relented. “It's all right, Spock, mothers always do that.”
“Vulcan mothers do not. Still, she did stop by the time I learned to walk. ”
------------
On Vulcan, Amanda was opening a package delivered that morning. Inside
was a note and a music box, which played a Brahms waltz Amanda had been
fond of when Spock was small. She opened the box with delight, and
listened, while a holo formed above it of herself, holding her one year
old son.
There was one more item, a note, written in Spock's precise script.
“Dear Mother,
I would appreciate it if you do not show this to Father, nor anyone
else, including my bondmate. He has, however, reminded me that on the
part of Earth from which you came, they are celebrating Mother's Day. I
decided to forego the traditional robe sent from our family tailor, as
Jim says it is too impersonal. I had this custom-made for you. I wish
you to know that I do, in fact, appreciate all you have done for me.”
Amanda smiled tenderly as she regarded the visage. Another box delivered
before this one had contained her traditional robe, but the card had
been signed, “To my other mother, love, Jim.” This was the most Mother's
Day she'd gotten since the one time Sarek had allowed Spock to make her
a small hand-held computer, the first he'd built, which had been
designed to hold her favorite recipes, but which had functioned only
briefly. He'd been five. He had been so embarrassed, he never tried again.
What he didn't know was that she still had that computer, stored in a
hatbox on a shelf with other treasures and remembrances.
She turned Spock's card over idly, and read the back. A sentimental tear
fell and she brushed it away, lest Sarek think she was sad. This card
would go in the hatbox with her other keepsakes.
In Spock's precise hand was written “Elf”.