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Leonard and Spock were bustling around their quarters on the Hope, trying to get everything ready. Jim, Ta’an, and baby Enai were taking Sarek and T’Min on a tour of the ship, and the twins were supposed to go with, but there was no telling a three-year-old Vulcan—let alone two—what to do. Eri and Sol ‘helped’ by following their fathers around and picking up and setting down whatever decoration they just placed. It was adorable but also meant that they’d be at this whole decorating things for a while.
Eri and Spock laid down the decorative table covering while Sol and Leonard—mostly Sol because she was stubborn—set down the menorah. Unlike their cabin on the Enterprise, their new home featured a window by the entrance specifically to display their menorah. This was a beautiful compromise, considering what happened to the community menorah in the hallway during their last Enterprise Hanukkah. Leonard had no idea how Jim managed to plow through that table running to an emergency and not notice the gash on his forearm until the dust settled.
Sol looked up at Leonard with unblinking eyes, and the bond lit up with curiosity. Leonard ruffled her hair and kissed the top of her head. “Just rememberin’ something kind of funny,” he said as he set down the candles and realized his mistake. “Oh, shoot, I forgot the Shamash. Wait. Where did we put it, Spock?” Leonard roped Spock into helping him find the fancy central candle that T’Min made for them as a gift, and that was, unfortunately, not a good decision.
Jim, Ta’an, Enai, Sarek, and T’Min all made it back just in time to hear Leonard’s elated “Eureka!” as he came back to the main living area with the candle. It was clearly handmade, but the design was carefully thought out and beautiful. T’Min chose a white candle base with blue swirls along the outside of the candle. She put in a lot of effort for her older brother, and it showed. “Welcome back, folks. Spock and I are almost done but, little T’Min, will you do us the honors and light the Shamash for us when we’re ready?”
But little T’Min wasn’t paying attention to Leonard.
Neither was Ta’an or anyone else shorter than one point three meters.
They were all staring at…
“Oh hell.”
Spock also came out to the communal area and stared. “It appears the twins have found the candles.”
“You two are aware that those are candles, right?”
Eri and Sol turned to their fathers with barely disguised disgust as they continued chewing on the candles they had stuffed in their mouths. The bond was on fire with a myriad of colors and feelings; they liked the texture, hated the taste, thought the wick was weird, and wondered why they smelled like nothing. They slowly moved the candles out of their mouth and even fished out the chewed wax in their cheeks, both looking miserable and unsure.
Jim, bless him, knew exactly what to do. He handed Enai to Sarek, knelt down in his admiral uniform, and held out his hand. “Don’t worry. Here, give it to me, and I’ll take care of it,” he said. Jim looked both ways conspiratorially before leaning in and stage-whispering. “You two want to know a secret?”
The twins nodded once, but they were buzzing with curiosity inside their heads.
“I sometimes eat things I’m not supposed to, too. When I was your age, and my mom was back for Hanukkah, she got these candles that smelled like cookies, and I ate the whole box.” Eri and Sol’s eyes widened, and Jim gave them both a hug, hopefully being careful of the slimy wax balls in his hands. “Just be careful of decorative soap; they’re always a trap!”