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1.
The call goes out on many frequencies throughout the Federation and in many languages. And yes, initially there are suspicions that it’s a hoax - a way to lure them to a trap on the outskirts of Federation space.
Please, the children.
It echoes between stars before it reaches the first ship. The next. And the next. Starfleet HQ quickly responds - because as dangerous as space can be, no one leaves children behind.
But someone did.
The first ships to reach the planet are filled with heavily armed personnel. And medics.
At first, the Klingon ship makes all Captains order "red alert" until someone decides to talk with the other side. They too have heard the call. The Mother of the Klingon Empire has responded.
Afterwards, there will be rumors a cloaked ship was there too. Some say it was the Romulans.
Please, the children.
The first to find them will never forget the sight. Incubators, cribs and play areas. No child looks older than two years.
Medics and soldiers are joined by scientists. What happened here? It will take years to find the answers, and some will never be found.
As with all historical events, they begin with a here and now. They begin with someone picking up the first child, looking into the eyes of a baby left alone for what will later be decided must not have been more than 24 hours. 24 hours since the catastrophic event on the other side of the planet. But here and now the main worry is for the baby's health and it is quickly tended to.
The baby is a boy and will later be identified as a human and Klingon hybrid. His biological mother will take him in, to be raised with her other sons. His father died four years ago.
By the hands of the mother.
The incubators are empty. Either whatever happened here stopped before the catastrophe or the incubators were emptied when it happened. Everyone prays for the first alternative.
There are 587 children in the facility.
The initial focus is on their health. Aboard the ships in orbit the personnel are ordered to help out with the evacuations and as baby after baby, toddler after toddler are beamed aboard they get assigned to the staff while medics are trying their best to scan them and see what medical attention they might need. Everyone not on regular duty, or with a reason not to, is walking around with a child.
Many children are obvious hybrids. Pointed ears, blue skin, nose ridges etc show the origin of at least one of the parents. Other mixes the medics notice when drawing blood samples or using the medical tricorders.
Down in the facility, the database isn't too hard to decode. At least not the first part, the part they are obviously meant to find. It’s a list.
The young ensign who finds it, not even 10 hours since they beamed down, can't at first figure out what she’s seeing. Until she does.
"Sir," she calls out to her commanding officer. "I think this is a list of the parents."
And as the days go by, every child's parents are identified and it is decided they have the right to know. None of them are in a relationship with each other. But everyone has met at least once. Some for just a minute or two, some have known each other for years.
The decision is made to tell everyone affected in person.
2.
No one in Federation space, and definitely no one in Starfleet, has missed the news about the abandoned children. It's a horrible mystery, and the rumors circling it makes it difficult to know what is what.
The Enterprise has been called to patrol the area and be ready to help with the transportation of the children to their homeworlds.
But the counselor that beams aboard isn't here to lead a mission for the ship. He has asked for a private meeting with the Captain and Commander.
"John," he reaches out his hand, the one not leaning on his cane. Pike shakes it, then Number One does the same.
"Pike."
"Number One."
"Would it be ok if I used your first names? It is a personal matter."
"Yes," Chris agrees.
"No," Number One simultaneously doesn't. John nods. They sit down. They are in Chris' quarters and he has a fire lit behind the counselor. Number One and Chris sit next to each other on the sofa. It should be a relaxed environment.
It isn’t.
"You are of course aware of the distress call and the findings of all the children?" John the counselor begins. Chris nods and Una… suddenly her mouth goes dry. Suddenly she remembers rumors about visits like this.
"Sir, are you-?" John looks at her.
"Yes," he says softly. Chris looks confused. Or, he feels confused. Una can’t look at him right now. She looks into John's eyes, while trying to calm her breathing, trying to calm her heartbeat by the sheer force of will. They're kind eyes, actually. Eyes that have seen things. Eyes of a counselor who wishes he could’ve helped more. He breaks contact and looks at Chris instead. Una continues to stare at the counselor. And the fire behind him. She likes the flames.
"They are identifying the parents of the children." She can feel Chris slowly turning towards her. "Two of the children they… they are yours."
He feels the world stopping. He stares at the counselor trying to find a coherent thought in his brain or figuring out what to do or-
Then he hears what sounds like a small whimper from her, and he turns only to see her letting out a shuddering breath and hiding her head in her hands. Her hair hides her face. It looks as if all strength goes out of her, and Chris has never been so scared.
"Una." He reaches out a hand, but doesn’t touch her. Is he allowed to? Should he? He doesn't know what he-
Una is still looking away, hidden in her curtain of hair, when her hand reaches out for his. She is holding onto him like that one time he had to get her out of deep, dark waters. She is holding on for life.
"I-" he tries to breathe, tries to say something, tries to formulate even a thought but all he has is feelings.
Shock. Confusion. No clear direction ahead. He has children. Not by choice but by force but they are still, somehow, his. And Una's. He has children with Number One. Her hand is in his.
He is to be in an accident in a few years time and the Universe has been cruel enough to give him children.
He is to be in an accident in a few years time and the Universe has been wonderful enough to give him children.
With Number One. With Una. Who is having a panic attack next to him. Her hand is almost crushing his.
"Una, Una." The counselor backs away, makes place for Chris. He kneels down in front of her, manages to get his hand free, wraps his arms around her and holds her close. "Una." He rocks her. She finds her breathing, starts whispering. He listens, tries to hear. It's a stream of thoughts and he doesn’t know if she knows that she says them out loud, whispers them to him as he holds her, her breath warm against his skin.
"I am not allowed to breed, they said my blood is forbidden, I am not allowed to, the children shouldn't exist, I can't, I am not allowed, the children-"
And he holds her even closer, and wants to hide her in his embrace. Wants to shield her from the universe and its cruelty and wonders.
3.
It's late. She thinks it’s late. Chris has said goodbye to the counselor with the eyes of a soldier, she heard it somehow as the sedatives made their way through her system. She asked for them and she is glad they agreed.
Now, she is in Chris' bed, a blanket over her. He is sitting in a chair next to her.
As her eyes find him, he puts his book down and meet her eyes.
"Hi," his voice is soft and warm but tinged with sadness.
"Hi," she answers and then takes a breath to-
"Don't." He says is softly, but firm. "Don’t be sorry for being vulnerable with me."
She moves her hand and he takes it. He sits on the floor next to the bed, holding her hand as she falls asleep again.
4.
Her breathing is calm when she is asleep. He wonders if she dreams. Her hand is soft and relaxed. He likes holding her hand.
Chris looks at her, her pale skin and dark hair. He has sat by her bed in sickbay many times. But he didn’t hold her hand like this then.
And he didn't have children with her then.
The counselor gave him the files for the children. There is information on their assumed age, some medical information and pictures.
He hasn’t opened them. He wants to do that with her.
He holds her hand and wonders what their children's hands are like. He wonders if their hair is dark, like hers. If they have blue eyes, like them both.
And then he cries softly, letting the tears fall in silence as he looks at her. He cries for children born to parents who travel the stars, for children who he never planned for but who now exists and he knows he will want to know them. For children he won't be able to play with anymore in a few years time.
He holds her hand and mourns already that he has to let go.
5.
They look at the pictures. It's a baby boy, about 4 months old, and a girl. She's 1,5 years old.
Una could’ve had the girl and gotten pregnant not long after. She has to close her eyes and breathe.
"Are you ok? Do you want to stop?" Chris asks. Chris is there next to her as they sit on the couch. He is holding the padd and she is leaning on him. Finding strength in him.
"I am. I just need to… adjust." She gives him a small smile. "And you, are you-?"
"Yes." She knows there is more. She knows he isn't completely fine. She knows him too well, knows his fear of the future. But she also knows that his yes is a commitment. He's telling her they are doing this together.
She wouldn't want to share this with anyone else.
The boy has her eyes. Sharp blue. But he might have Chris' hair. Chris says he'll ask his mum to send him some pictures. He doesn't have to say the obvious. That he'll ask once they have told her and everyone else that they have children now. Because they haven't fully said it out loud even to themselves.
There are ten pictures in total. Four of each child and two with them together. The girl has dark hair. Blue eyes, like Chris. And she isn’t smiling. She actually looks as if she's a bit bored, or wondering what on Earth is going on.
"She looks like you," comes from Chris. And Una has to laugh. He looks at her, his face close as she is resting hers on his shoulder.
"I just had the thought that she looked bored." And Chris chuckles.
"I would say she looks unimpressed."
"And it reminded you of me?"
"Will I walk out of here alive if I say yes?"
I'll do everything to keep you alive , goes through her mind. Out loud she says, "Only because you just fed me."
I want to make you breakfast every morning I have left, he thinks. "I'm glad that trick still works," is what he says.
6.
Two people on a couch looking at pictures of their children. It should be romantic, beautiful. They could kiss now.
They don't.
Because all the emotions are a mess. Una knows she has wanted Chris for years. And then the universe goes and makes him the father of her children, without even asking her first.
And she doesn’t know if he looks at her the way he does because he has always wanted to be so soft and inviting and warm, or because she is the one he is to meet his children with.
Chris' choice of women has always been an amazingly poor match. So she doesn’t know if the idea of him one day choosing her is actually a good thing.
So she excuses herself and gets a glass of water. Before either of them get any ideas.
He flips through the pictures and knows he's smiling. He knows he should be more worried because this isn’t easy, this road is anything but straight. But he can still feel Una’s head on his shoulder. He is going through this with her, and it makes him feel safe.
"Should we… should we meet them?" He asks out loud, not looking at her. Her firm "yes" sends a warmth through him and his eyes meet hers where she is standing in the kitchen, leaning on the counter. And her eyes are soft and warm and inviting.
And he knows that he wants to kiss her and he knows that he shouldn't for a million reasons - the same that has stopped him so many times before.
And he knows that tomorrow they are going to meet their children. Which has never happened before.
Do the reasons still matter, when nothing is like it was?
7.
Everybody on the ship knows a counselor met with the Captain and the Commander the other day and that Spock has been in charge since.
News travels fast. It’s a small ship after all. (It really isn't).
Everybody knows this probably has something to do with the children. Many know friends or family who have been visited by counselors.
Everybody respects the privacy of others.
So when the Captain and Commander make their way towards the transporter room, those who meet them don't stare or stop them to ask any curious questions.
Or maybe they are just shocked to see the Commander in a regular, black shirt and not her uniform. The Captain in a long-sleeved, dark blue shirt isn't as unusual a sight. Both still wear the black uniform pants.
They step up on the transporter pad as if going on another mission and give the order to be beamed off the ship.
"Good luck," Chief Kyle whispers to the thin, glimmering air as he transports them away.
The ship they materialize on is… busy. There are Starfleet personnel carrying babies in slings as they go about their day, or out walking with toddlers who stop and point and look at things. Their counselor is there and he shows them to a room that is almost silent, in contrast to the busy life of the outside.
It's someone's quarters, but remade to be… a playroom. A neutral but inviting place to meet their children. The lights are set a bit low, to make the place feel softer.
"The nurse will bring them soon," John says. Chris is fidgeting in his seat, she's running her thumb across her fingers. She gives John a small smile.
"Thank you. For being here." He nods.
"Of course." She knows it’s his job, but he should know he’s good at it.
Then she feels Chris' hand reaching for her just as the doors open and all she can focus on is the small girl standing there, and the bundle in the nurse's arms.
Una rises and the nurse gives her a look to make sure she’s ok, Una nods and he hands her the baby.
"He is fed, and a bit sleepy," Una hears the man say but all she can focus on is a chubby baby with blue eyes looking at her.
And then he smiles. There is no mistaking that he's Chris', because those dimples could bring the world to its knees.
"Hi there," she smiles at him and feels her eyes watering and her throat thickening. She notices the nurse leaving but couldn't care less. Small arms grab a chunk of her hair and it hurts and he's already four months old but he's here and he's hers and she was never allowed children.
She didn't have a happy childhood. She wants to give him one.
Behind her, she hears Chris laugh. Turning, she sees him trying to stop the girl from climbing up on the sofa table.
"I think you are an explorer," he says.
"No." She replies, looking at him as if he's an annoyance in her life. Una chuckles, making Chris look up at her.
He has a feeling she feels things looking at him on the floor with the small girl that looks like her next to him. Because he feels things looking at her with the boy in her arms.
He knows they don't know these children. They don’t know what they have been through, why they were made or if the children even want to be with them.
All he knows is that they are here now. All he knows is that he believes that life should be lived, for as long as it can. And that these two little ones for some reason came into his. And hers.
And she is standing next to him with a child that might look like him in her arms and he wonders what he has done to be blessed and cursed in this way.
She sits down next to him. The boy is stretching and kicking a little, grabbing her hair.
"He might be tired, the nurse said." Chris nods. And then tries to stop the girl from her climbing adventures again. She gives him an annoyed look.
"Ok. She does look like me." Una agrees and Chris laughs.
8.
They stay there for a few hours. They play with the children, feed them and talk. Counselor John disappears after a while.
Chris is afraid of him leaving them in a few years.
Una is afraid she is hardly the mothering type and she never planned on having children. Because of her childhood, her love for the stars and the fact that she wasn’t allowed to a) exist in Federation space and b) once she was she was still not allowed to procreate.
Chris still hates that part of their "victory".
Chris also says he never felt he met the right person to have them with.
The air feels heavy for a moment. Before the girl throws a ball on Chris' head.
And a starship is no place for children to grow up on.
Chris has a house in Montana.
There could be a plan there, somehow.
So when it's time to leave, the decision has somehow been made. They materialize and are greeted by a smiling Chief Kyle.
When they walk through the corridors of the Enterprise, no one asks any questions.
Maybe they are too shocked to see their Commander carrying a sleeping toddler in her arms, and their Captain carrying a baby in a sling on his back.
9.
"They need names."
"I love how you say that in such a businesslike tone."
They are in his bed. Fully dressed, and with the children asleep between them. It should be weird because this is a domestic scene and they are not a couple.
It feels completely normal. It feels just like them.
"Do you have any suggestions?", she says, not even commenting on his comment about her tone of voice. He huffs. She smiles. The stars shine behind her.
"I have always liked Romy." He says. She raises an eyebrow, curious. "It’s my father's sister's name." She smiles, and her hand combs through the sleeping girl's hair
"Are you a Romy?" She whispers. The girl sighs, turns and snuggles against Una’s leg. She looks at Chris. Yep, the girl has a name.
And the boy? Chris thinks through his family tree. No name really stands out. And Una doesn’t talk about her family.
"But I…"
"Yes?"
"I thought maybe… John?" Chris looks surprised. "Yeah no." She shakes her head in a 'forget it'-motion, but Chris likes the idea.
"From the counselor?" She nods. "I think that's… a very good choice." She smiles.
"He was kind." She says. Chris reaches for her hand.
"He was."
"John Pike. Romy Pike."
"Or John Chin-Riley and Romy Chin-Riley."
"We'll postpone that discussion until the morning."
"Yes ma'am."
And then it becomes a bit awkward again. After they have brushed their teeth in the fresher between their quarters. It's been a long day and their children - their children - are in his bed and is she..?
"Do you want to stay?" He asks. She feels relieved.
"Yes. Thank you."
"Of course," he says. She goes to her place to change into pajamas and then makes her way through their fresher and his living room and into his bedroom.
And Chris is laying there with the boy in his arms, feeding him with a bottle and this, this is her life now. She stops and stares at Chris and the child named John and the child named Romy and she both wants to hug them all and run away.
"C'mere," he says. And she puts one foot before the other, slowly making her way towards the bed. She isn’t afraid of anything, right? People are afraid of her.
She is terrified of this.
She sits down on the edge of the bed. "Tell me," he says. And his eyes are warm and safe. The giant windows in his quarters make the stars light up the room.
"I'm scared." She hears herself say. "I'm scared that I will mess this - them - up. I am scared that I will be expected to choose my children before my job when I until two days ago only had a job and no children. I'm scared-" she looks out at the stars. He waits. She knows she could not say anything and he would let it be, wouldn't push. "I'm scared because I am sharing this with you and I don't know what I feel about that."
It hurts, it does. That she isn’t sure that she wants this with him.
"I am glad it's you," he says. Has to say it. Her blue eyes look at him, searching.
There is an expression called "blue on blue", meaning when soldiers kill or injure one of their own. He wonders if this is what is about to happen. Is she going to excuse herself, go back to her quarters? Tell him that this is a mistake, that they'll have to figure their arrangements out tomorrow?
"Chris. I didn’t mean to imply that I didn't want this with you."
"Oh."
"I think… I think the problem is that I might want it a little too much."
And he forgets how to think, he just feels. Her hair is down and she is in the black, standard Starfleet t-shirt and she is sitting on the edge of his bed and there is a baby girl who looks like her but has his eyes asleep between them and he is holding a boy with his dimples and her eyes in his arms. And he feels his throat thickening and he hears her "Oh, Chris" and he motions for her to please c'mere and she does and he's holding her and she's holding him and he knows he places kisses on her hair and he probably cries and she holds him close.
He is a man who always makes sure people feel welcome, he wants everyone to have a home and a family. And he realizes that in the meantime she has done the same for him and he never wants to lose it.
He falls asleep surrounded by a family he never planned for, but the universe gave him.
10.
She wakes by the sound of him in the kitchen. Not because he is a loud cook, but because he is obviously talking to someone who is shrieking with laughter.
She steps into the kitchen and takes it all in. He is making pancakes with Romy. Although at the moment he is mainly tickling her and John is on a mattress on the floor eating a teddy bear. Seeing her coming in Chris smiles, and picks Romy up to divert her focus to the pancake he has to turn.
"Slept well?" He says over his shoulder.
And Una makes her way through the kitchen and decides not to think twice before she wraps her arms around him and burrows her face in his back.
11.
He holds a hand over hers, the one she has on his heart.
Romy is bored, he lets her down.
He makes a new pancake.
He turns around and kisses Una good morning.
12.
It becomes their new normal. That morning’s first kiss, sending fires through their bodies and leaving them panting from just this first taste of each other, it becomes more kisses.
Eventually, when the children are asleep.
And they make more breakfasts together, in Montana. And they figure it out - the balance between starships and Earth. Between adventure and family.
It's not easy, it never is. And what is uncovered about theirs and 585 other children's creation will shock them and there is a balance between being some of the most decorated people in Starfleet with high security clearance and being parents of those mentioned in the reports.
And Chris' accident still happens.
But before that there are birthdays and parties and yearly celebrations and there is nurse Chapel who measures and weighs the kids and helps them find what about their children could be Illyrian and what is plain old Earth human.
There is aunt Romy and the girl Romy and there is a John who gets a New Year's card with pictures of a baby John every year that he makes his husband look at before he goes back to playing the violin.
And there are horses to take care of and science experiments in the kitchen. There are nail polishes and hair being braided.
It's life, and no matter how it came into existence or how it ends, it's supposed to be worn gloriously.