Together {Star Trek Enterprise Fan Fiction}

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May

Lili's eyes sprang open, and she stared into space.

She didn't move, didn't twitch. She had no idea what to do.

The caressing continued. It was very light, not ticklish, and not hard. It was just the side of her belly. There were no movements, no advances, either to her front or her back. It seemed clear that Malcolm wasn't trying to wake her up. She was not leaning against his body.

Her throat was dry, and she finally, involuntarily, coughed a little bit.

"Oh, you're up," he said. His hand immediately moved away.

He could have, she figured, plausible deniability. If she asked, he could claim he wasn't doing anything. She kept quiet about it, and instead said, "I, uh, I've got a toddler at home. I'm up early all the time."

"I suppose you would be."

She sat up and the thin blanket dropped down, exposing her a little. She didn't make a move to recover herself.

"Uh, you'd best ...," he said.

"Considering what's happened the last few nights, well, you've already seen me in my thousand-kilo pregnant glory."

"Still," he moved to sit up but grimaced.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, just a bit of a backache."

"I shouldn't have, uh," she said, "I'm not exactly light these days."

"I don't know."

"Here. Um, lie on your stomach."

Kick.

"What?"

"I caused this. Let me at least try to cure it."

"Lili, really."

"No. If today is at all like yesterday, we'll be walking around for hours. You might as well be comfortable, or as comfortable as you can be."

"Uh, all right," he did as requested.

She pulled the blanket down to expose his back, and then started pressing her thumbs in.

"No, a little higher. Yes, that's right," he said.

"This good?"

"Not so hard. Oh, yes, much better. Thank you."

"Good," she said, "That's, um, hate to say it, but that's the same motion and the same force I used to use to burp Joss."

"Oh."

Excitement gone, he felt safe in turning over and sitting up.

=/\=

"Your beard's coming in grey," Melissa said.

"I don't suppose they have much of a concept of shaving here," Doug replied, "I'm almost fifty-seven. I'd be surprised if it wasn't grey."

"Ah."

"I'm old enough to be your father. And, uh, don't tell me how old he is."

"Why not? He's sixty-two," she said.

"He was an old father."

"So are you," she said, "But I'm the fourth of six."

"Huh. I want a bigger family but I get the feeling this will be it," he said, and then swallowed. Maybe not, and not the way he'd hoped for or expected.

"Well, it was all right being in a big family, I guess," Melissa said, not noticing his reaction, "All girls. I bet my father wanted to run screaming from us more than once."