Being A Family

DISCLAIMER: None of these characters are mine, they belong to Paramount and are used here without permission.  
  
Author's Note: This idea has been running around in my head for quite a while, so I decided to write it down and see where it takes me. Enjoy, and as always r/r!  
  
Being a Family  
  
A slight drizzle fell as Jonathon Enterprise stood at his parents' graves. The cool San Francisco air brushed against his skin, and for a moment he was taken back to happier times. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine that they were together again, a family again. They were at the beach. He could hear his little sister Hoshi's laughter as his brothers Trip and Malcolm held her by her arms and legs, threatening to throw her into the water. If he opened them, he would see Trip and Malcolm's grinning faces, Hoshi's innocent joy, and Travis chasing after them.  
  
But all that greeted his eyes was the flat, gray landscape of a rainy June day. There was no beach, no ocean, no golden sun. Instead he stood in a quiet cemetary with his brothers and sister: 17-year-old Trip, 13-year-old Malcolm, 11-year-old Hoshi, and Travis, the baby of the family at ten. All looked unusually sober, their normal happiness subdued by the sudden death of their parents.  
  
Jon suddenly realized that the funeral was over, that it had been over for quite some time. It was late. He should get everyone home. But the thought of returning to that house which had once been so happy and secure made him uneasy. If it had been only himself, he would have delayed returning for as long as possible. He had to think of the others now, he reminded himself.  
  
"Come on," he said, breaking the silence as he turned from the gravestones. "Let's go home."  
  
The drive was long and quiet. The three children in the back were unusually still. Usually Travis and Hoshi would be teasing each other, but now everyone rode silently in the car, staring out of the windows. Even Trip, normally cheery with an irrepressible spirit, was quiet.  
  
"Are you going to stay?" Trip finally asked Jon.  
  
"Yeah," Jon said. "I'm done with college now, so I'm going to come home and get a job here."  
  
"What about graduate school? Aren't you going to Cal Tech next year?"  
  
"That can wait. I have to take care of you guys now."  
  
"But Jon -- "  
  
"Trip!" Jon's hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Just drop it, okay?"  
  
"Okay, sorry." There was a long pause. "What about T'Pol? Is she coming home?"  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"But if she's going to stay in school, why aren't you?"  
  
"Trip, I don't want to talk about it!" Jon immediately regreted his harsh words. "I don't know if she's coming home. Maybe. It doesn't matter. I'm the oldest, and I'm your guardian now."  
  
"But you shouldn't have to give up graduate school for us," Trip protested.  
  
"Trip, please, not now, okay."  
  
Trip opened his mouth to say something, but the look in his brother's eye stopped him. Jon was only 23, but he already looked old and tired, the weight on his shoulders too much for someone so young to bear. "Okay, sorry."  
  
They rode the rest of the way home in tense silence. It was only broken when they pulled into the driveway. All of the children were shocked to see a clean Toyota Camry in nearly perfect condition.  
  
"T'Pol's here," Trip said as he climbed out of the car and followed the others into the house.  
  
Jon lagged behind a little, stopping to stare at the car in disbelief. T'Pol was supposed to be miles away in Stanford. He couldn't imagine his cool, controlled sister driving all the way here without calling them first, but that seemed like what she had done. He felt his stomach lurch. He and T'Pol were only two years apart, and it seemed like they were always arguing about something. The two constantly struggled to be the leader, and their battles for control left the others feeling awkward and uncomfortable.  
  
Inside, the others had already gathered around T'Pol in the kitchen. They were all sitting on stools around the kitchen counter except for Travis, who was sitting on the counter itself. Jon walked towards them, feeling a little out of place.  
  
"So T'Pol," he asked, "what are you doing here?"  
  
She turned towards him, giving him her patented ice-woman stare. "I came home for the funeral," she said slowly. "It was the proper thing to do."  
  
"Jon just didn't expect you to come home," Trip added helpfully. "He thought you'd just stay at school."  
  
Great, Trip, Jon thought. Trip had a knack for saying things at the worst possible moment.  
  
"Did you really believe that I would not return home after my own parents died?" T'Pol asked. Her voice would freeze hydrogen.  
  
"I was just a little surprised to see you, that's all," Jon answered, teeth clenched. He was now remembering exactly why he had been so thrilled to hear that T'Pol was going away to Stanford to college. "So," he continued, "how long are you going to stay?"  
  
"I will stay until the proper arrangements have been made."  
  
"What arrangements?" Hoshi asked.  
  
"Until we have decided who will care for you and the others."  
  
"But Jon already said that he was going to stay here with us," Malcolm told her.  
  
"Why would you do that, Jon?" T'Pol asked him. "You have already enrolled in Cal Tech. You have no experience caring for children. You have no way of earning a living."  
  
"We can live off of the insurance money for a while. Anyway, it seemed the *proper* thing to do."  
  
"It is foolish to throw away everything for which you've worked."  
  
"Someone has to stay home and take care of everyone."  
  
"No you don't," Trip added. "I can take of things. I'm old enough."  
  
"Trip . . . " Jon sighed. "You're not helping, okay? Why don't you just take everyone upstairs. T'Pol and I have to talk."  
  
"I'm not a little kid, you know," Trip shot back. Jon was shocked; Trip rarely lost his temper. "You can't just ignore us. We're not stupid. This has to do with us. We deserve to have some say in what's going to happen."  
  
"Trip!"  
  
Without another word, Trip stormed out of the kitchen, followed closely by Travis and Hoshi. Malcolm stood up slowly, glancing back at Jon and T'Pol. Their looks clearly said that he was not welcome to stay. With a sigh, he followed the others upstairs.  
  
Jon turned around to glare at T'Pol. "Why'd you put me on the spot like that?"  
  
She raised one eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"I'm the oldest now! I'm the one who decides what's going to happen about this family, and I've made my decision."  
  
"You can't abandon your dreams so carelessly," she reminded him. "You've wanted to be an engineer since you were a child."  
  
"Don't you think I've given this plenty of thought?" he asked. "This is the only way. Someone has to stay here and take care of things."  
  
T'Pol was silent for a moment, and when she spoke, her voice was softer. "They aren't children anymore, Jon." He stared at her, but she continued. "Trip is correct. He is 17 years old. He is no longer a child, and you can't keep treating him like one."  
  
"Trip can't possibly take care of everyone!" Jon protested.  
  
"That is not what I'm suggesting," she continued. "Jon, your greatest strength has always been your willingness to protect your family. But now you must also be willing to step back a bit. We have grown up, Jon, and we do not need you as much as we once did."  
  
"What are you talking about?" he asked, the anger out of his voice.  
  
"What I was going to suggest in the first place," she said, giving him a look, "is that we both move home. You can transfer to UCSF. Since I graduated early, I will enter graduate school at UCSF part-time and find a job. Trip can also find an after school job." She folded her arms and waited for his response.  
  
"Will that be enough to support all of us?" he asked slowly.  
  
"According to my calculations, it will be. The house is already paid for, and we can use the insurance money for emergencies. You and I will be eligible for scholarships and financial aid to UCSF, and you can find a job on campus to make some extra money."  
  
"I can't ask you to drop out of school, T'Pol. And anyway, Trip's too young to get a job."  
  
"Trip is 17, Jon. He is old enough to get a job, and, more importantly, he wants to. I'm sure that he would be more than willing to do so in order to help the family. As for the other point, I won't be dropping out of school. I'll simply be starting graduate school part-time instead of full-time. Since I finished college early, it is logical for me to do this instead of you." Although T'Pol was two years younger than Jon, she had finished high school in three years and went on to college, which she had also finished in three years. "We all must make sacrifices, Jon, and I want to do this for my family."  
  
Jon sighed and rubbed his temples. "Look, we can talk about this later. Let's just go to bed."  
  
Silently they went upstairs. Jon went into his old room, which he had used to share with Trip, and got ready for bed. Trip wasn't there, and Jon assumed that he was hanging out in Malcolm and Travis' room.  
  
Once he finished, there was a knock on the door. "Come in."  
  
It was T'Pol. "Have you seen Hoshi?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"I can't find her, or any of the others, anywhere."  
  
"They're probably in Malcolm and Travis' room."  
  
"I checked there. It is empty."  
  
Jon's stomach lurched. "Well, they've got to be somewhere." He pushed past her and proceeded to search every room upstairs and downstairs for his brothers and sister. He grew more and more frantic as room after room turned out to be empty.  
  
When he got back upstairs, T'Pol was waiting for him in the doorway of his room.  
  
"What are you still doing up here?" he demanded.  
  
"I already checked the house," T'Pol said calmly. "I couldn't find them."  
  
"You know, it wouldn't hurt you to get a little worked up," Jon said sharply.  
  
"Getting excited will not find them faster," she reminded him.  
  
"Fine, fine, forget it! Are you sure you looked everywhere?"  
  
"Everywhere except . . . "  
  
Both of them looked down the hall. At the end was their parents' old room, and Jon's stomach lurched a little. "That door's locked," he said. "I locked it myself."  
  
"I noticed that when I arrived," she said, "but perhaps Trip or Malcolm opened it. They're very good at that kind of thing."  
  
Jon started down the hall. He could hear T'Pol's running to keep after him, but he didn't slow down. He knew it was stupid -- T'Pol would say 'illogical' -- to avoid his parents' bedroom, but he couldn't help it. A prickly feeling ran down his neck as he tried the knob. To his surprise, the door opened easily.  
  
Inside, the room was dimly lit with a few lamps. All four children lay in the big bed: Hoshi in the middle with Malcolm on one side and Travis and Trip on the other. Jon's dog, Porthos, lay curled up at the foot of the bed.  
  
Trip opened his eyes as they walked in. "What took you so long?" he asked.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" Jon whispered.  
  
"Nothing. Waiting for you two." He yawned widely. "Hop in." He sat up and crawled to the foot of the bed and lay down so that his head leaned against Porthos.  
  
Jon and T'Pol looked at each other before climbing up onto either side of the bed, being careful not to wake the others up. The six of them -- seven, counting Porthos -- barely fit into the bed, but none of them seemed to mind being so smushed. Jon smiled and closed his eyes. They were a family, and he knew that everything would turn out all right.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Since I've never been to San Francisco, I didn't know if there are any schools near San Francisco. I don't think that there really is a University of California -- San Francico (UCSF), but this assumes that there is. Also, assume that this happens in early summer -- early enough that they still have time to transfer schools, get scholarships, etc.  
  
I know this is a little confusing, but I've been trying to finish this for a long time, and so I kind of threw it together at the last minute. I'd figured out the beginning and the end, but I was having trouble with the middle, specifically the scene where Jon and T'Pol decide how to handle things. So I just wrote it as best as I could so that I could do the final scene, which is the whole reason I wrote this fic. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please r/r! 


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