Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Finally their shift was over and Jim could head to his and Spock's quarters. Honestly, how oblivious was his crew, they shared quarters for crying out loud. Hell Scotty was the one with some help retrofitting them for double occupancy and the babies rooms were next door. He shook his head as he headed in, stripping off his clothes along the way to the closet. He changed into sweats and a tshirt that was on the large size. He flopped down on the bed and sighed. Spock had to go to the labs as there had been an a breakthrough on one of the experiments. They had been given some samples of the same fungus that had wiped out the food supplies on Tarsus IV when he had been there and some Zenite. According to Spock, the antidote made from the order was killing the fungus. He shivered, he hated having anything to do with Tarsus IV but with his records sealed for that time in his life because he was a child then, no one knew. Spock had told him that he could have Pike send it to another ship to work on but he knew if any starship lab could do it, it was theirs. This was one of the reasons that Starfleet was in such a hurry to get Ardana into the Federation.

He rolled over and grabbed the spare PADD he always kept by the bed and looked through the work he still had to do. There as promised was the information from Uhura on Ardana. According to what she had written it was a warp-capable species. The Capital city Stratos was a sky city where the city-dwellers lived and the miners lived on the surface. They were a species that operated on a cast system that looked to be very uneven. They were obligated to provide shipments of zenite and to assist other members of the Federation if needed. He noticed that the Federation wasn’t asking much of them, must really want access to that ore they mine. His eyes started to grow heavy and he felt the PADD slip from his fingers. He yawned and within minutes he fell asleep in the middle of the bed where Spock found him four hours later when he came back from the labs.

**********

Spock returned from the lab to find his mate sound asleep. He changed into his meditation robe and sat by the bed to meditate incase his mate should have need of him. He meditated for three hours and then crawled into bed. Jim had not moved the whole time and he moved him over a little to make room for himself. He laid down and his mate promptly snuggled into his side. Spock allowed himself a small smile and closed his eyes to rest for a few more hours before their next shift started. Spock awoke and noted that they had two hours before they were due for Alpha shift. He roused up Jim.

‘Wake up, Jim. We need to get ready for our shift.’

‘Wha’?’

‘Jim, it is time to wake up.’ Spock used what Jim called his dominate male tone. Jim roused up quickly at the tone and looked at the Chronometer, two hours to get ready and report for their shift.

“Spock, I’m still tired,” he whined to his mate. He went to roll back over to go back to sleep when a sharp slap on his ass brought him completely awake.

“Spock!”

“You will get up now, Jim. We are to report for duty and you still need to eat. Did you eat before you fell asleep last night?”

Jim shrunk back into the covers. He was in trouble, he had been so tired and wanted to look over the file Uhura had sent him on Ardana that he had somehow forgot. “No,” he said in a very small voice. He saw Spock’s brows draw together in a scowl and knew what was coming. He tried to get out of the bed before he moved an inch, Spock grabbed him and dragged him across it and onto his lap, face down.

*Crack* “You will remember to eat.” *Crack* “I will have you monitored if I must.” *Crack* “This behavior is not healthy for you or our kits.” *Crack* “Do you understand?” *Crack*

By the third slap, Jim was in tears and his ass stung. He knew he was at fault and could not get mad at his dominant as he did not do what he was supposed to keep him and their kits healthy. “Yes, my dominant,” he choked out as he sobbed.

Spock lifted him up and sat him on his lap, ignoring the stinging ass of his mate. It was a fit punishment for not taking care of himself and their kits. “Good,” he said and kissed Jim’s tears away. “Go get cleaned up and I will have breakfast waiting for you.”

Jim nodded and got off his lap and headed into the refresher. He took his time in the sonic shower and washed his face at the sink to make sure it did not look like he had cried this morning. He also held the cloth to his ass to try and take some of the sting out. He brushed his teeth and went out to get dressed. He saw that Spock had breakfast laid out on their table. He threw on his uniform and went over to sit and eat. He hissed a little as his ass hit the chair, he had all of Alpha shift to squirm as his ass hurt. He sighed and started eating. He had finished an apple and a banana when Spock came out and dressed. He joined Jim at the table and ate as well. Jim finished the food his mate had set out for him and waited for him to finish as well. They set the plates to the side for the yeoman and left their quarters.

**********

They walked down the hall to the lift to go to the bridge, Jim noticed that all the crew members they met along the way would stop and stare. He sighed, he could feel the amazement and confusion rolling off them in waves and it was giving him a headache. He tightened his mental shields as he had been taught and got into the lift with Spock. Spock reached over once the doors had closed and rubbed his back for the time it took the lift to get them to the bridge.

“I don’t get it. Nothing has changed other than now they know. You would think I had sprouted another head.” He rubbed at his temple to stave off a headache.

“Calm down, Jim. They will get over it. This is new for them as well as for us. Once we are on the mission, everything will calm down and they will move onto something else.”

“I hope you’re right.” He sighed as the door to the lift opened and the exited out onto the bridge. There was a package in his chair, all bright colors and lots of ribbons. He walked over and picked it up. He could feel the excitement radiating off Chekov and Sulu, so he surmised it must be from them.

“What do we have here, kids?” He said as he sat down with the package still in his hands. He pulled the paper and ribbons off and handed them to the yeoman to dispose of. He popped the lid to the box and inside was baby clothes. He blinked, how the hell did they get them here. He looked at Chekov and Sulu, “Thank you.” He pulled out a romper suit and marveled at how tiny it was. “Spock look,” he sighed and handed it over to his mate.

“Indeed,” he said taking the babies garment in his hand. Jim sniffed and discreetly wiped his eyes, damn hormones.

Spock looked at the two men and nodded to them. “Thank you,” he said and handed the romper suit back to Jim who promptly put it back in the box with the other and told the yeoman to put it in his and Spock’s quarters.

Jim cleared his throat and got down to business. “So gentlemen, how long until we arrive?”

“Two point vree hovrs, sir,” Chekov told him in his heavily accented English.

“Very good.” He leaned back in his seat and started going through all his paperwork he needed to sign off on.