THE GIFT THAT SPOCK GAVE

The Unseen Delicate Memory: Tiberius x Captain Kirk

He won’t remember this.

At the very least, Kirk wants to hold on to that. A lone shred of dignity remains within, and he couldn’t care less. How meek he’s become in this situation does not matter. It never has.

He won’t remember this, anyways.

The abnormally tiny infant - with his bouncy, dark curls taking shelter beneath a wool cap knitted by Scotty - bares feeble gums in absolute glee, gazing up at the captain as if he’s the sole person in the universe save himself, perusing for any sign of confirmation evident on his face.

He doesn’t regard his father in this manner. Born and raised on a Federation starship, the boy has become receptive mainly to human traits, prominently emotion. Kirk’s XO rarely displays feeling. He avoids sentiment, despite his human wife and part-human son, and so the latter mimics his father whenever he is present. To make him proud. Yet, James presumes that Spock would love him regardless of which side he chose to openly portray . And it hurts like hell, knowing that the commander should be having this moment with his son, witnessing the spark in those dark brown eyes.

The kid prefers Captain Kirk. Or Chekov. Or Scotty. Anyone but the ‘green-blooded hobgoblin’.

Kirk leans down, adjusting the bat between his fragile little fists.

Then he smiles, warmly, welcomingly, and removes a remote from his uniform jacket. “You’re doing good, Tibby. Ready to hit the ball?”

Tiberius nods fervently and nearly tips over. His head is as large as his mind; however, the rest of the child’s body is not. He steadies himself before Kirk can offer to help.

“Fi wuuut!”

And Kirk laughs, because there’s nothing else to say. He presses the red button. A baseball slips from the machine, and it’s faster than he anticipated.

“Tiberius-.” He slams the bat against it, and if only the captain is assured for certain, he knows this has to be Commander Spock’s boy.

The expression of awe remains on Jim’s face, long enough for Tibby to capture it and giggle joyfully. “Efmmmmm?”

“Efmmmmm,” the man repeats, snatching him up into a hug. The remote drops to the floor, and before Tibby can warn him, a second ball tumbles into the back of Kirk’s head.

“Owie!” They chuckle in unison. Afterwards, Tiberius demands to be put down in order to attack the orb in Kirk’s honor.