You Would Even Say She Glows, chapter three

It had been precisely three minutes before two when the last guest left. Spock had experienced some awkwardness when he tried to make it appear that he, also, was preparing to walk out the door, but fortunately Nyota had thought of a last-minute task she required from him, and he had not been forced to continue his charade. Now, they were attempting to restore the house to something approximating its former condition.

He walked through the living area in search of the last chair for the dining room table. "It is my opinion that your party was a success."

She nodded as she gathered dirty glasses from around the room. "I think so! Everyone seemed to have a great time. Did you see Dr. McCoy flirting with Jacqueline from across the street?"

"Yes. I saw that. I am certain everyone else saw it, as well."

"It was definitely hard to miss. I actually thought he might end up at her place tonight, but I saw him leave with Christine. Too bad. Maybe he'll call her later."

"If he remembers meeting her."

"He was putting away a lot of bourbon, and I saw him drink at least three glasses of eggnog." She grimaced. "I wouldn't want to be him tomorrow."

"Nor would I. There was actually a great deal of imbibing, and I suspect that he will not be the only one feeling unwell. For example, I noticed that Suzanne seemed to have a fondness for the punch."

"She'll be fine. I admit that she and I got a little tipsy together, but we didn't drink all that much. We were mostly being silly."

"Do you care to tell me what was so humorous about the balloon in the kitchen?"

"Well, it was green and long, and the shape was suggestively masculine. We weren't thinking of you when we were playing around with it, but then you came into the kitchen, and your timing was just too perfect."

"I see. Perhaps I should be flattered, considering the size of the balloon."

"Definitely. And I won't even mention how the balloon popped when we played too rough."

"I would prefer that you did not."

She laughed and shook her head. "You know, we had some close calls tonight. When Suzanne pulled out that green balloon and said that it was a Vulcan condom, I about died. It's a miracle we made it through the evening without giving ourselves away."

"A Vulcan condom? I assure you that condoms are uniquely Terran, popularized by the human propensity for casual sex and unreliable methods of birth control." He gestured toward the now-cold candles on the mantle. "I confess, however, that I too almost revealed our relationship. When Susan Ling asked for a lighter, I carelessly retrieved one from your sideboard. I do not know what I was thinking."

"Oh, well. It doesn't matter. We made it through the evening, and our secret is safe."

She carried the glasses into the kitchen, so he located the chair and took it into the dining room. On the way out of the dining room, he paused to look up at the mistletoe. This doorway had been a very popular location tonight, to the point that at times it had been difficult to pass from one room to the next. He raised an eyebrow and nodded to himself.

"Nyota," he called out, "what do you wish to do about the stain on the dining room rug?"

"Oh, no! Someone spilled something on my rug?" She hurried out of the kitchen and stood in the doorway beside him. "Where? I don't see a stain."

"There is not a stain. I merely wanted you to join me."

She faced him, and after a moment, a devilish smile crept across her features. "So, did you figure it out?" she asked.

"Indeed I did. I must add, however, that it did not especially tax my powers of deduction."

"Mmmm. I'm not convinced. Maybe you need to prove it to me."

"Perhaps I will," he murmured.

...

Banking McCoy's flitter toward his apartment, Christine glanced over at her passenger. He had his eyes closed, and she hoped he wouldn't be sick. Thank heavens she'd caught a ride to the party with Hikaru and Susan. It would have been a pain to leave one of the flitters at Nyota's, but there was no way she would have let him drive home tonight.

"That eggnog is good stuff," she said.

"Hmph. Wasn't my fault I got drunk. Had to sit and drink with Spock for near to twenty minutes before anyone else got there." He opened one eye. "Come to think of it, there's something odd about that. When I got there, I sat in my flitter for a long time 'cause I thought I was early, and I didn't see him go in. He must have been there well before me."

"You know how he is about being exactly on time."

"But I was early."

"Sure, you were. You must have been really early to drink that much." She waited for a biting response. "Len?"

At the sound of a loud snore, she looked over to see that McCoy had fallen asleep. She shook her head and decided that maybe she should take him to her place tonight. He was probably going to need someone to look after him.

...

Suzanne made room for Jim in bed beside her. "That was a fun night."

"I had a good time, although judging by the laughter from the kitchen, I'd say that you and Uhura had a better time."

"We were just playing with some balloons. When you were a kid, did you ever see a clown make shapes with them? It was something like that."

He gave her a long look. "Right."

Suzanne scooted closer. "We were watching Spock puzzle over the mistletoe, too. It was really funny, because you could almost see the wheels turning." She paused. "There was something strange about that, though. When I told Nyota that Christine should give him a mistletoe demonstration, she acted guilty. I wondered if I'd put my foot in my mouth."

"It's not supposed to be common knowledge that Chapel had a crush on Spock. Everyone knew, of course, but we pretended that we didn't. She was probably surprised that you'd say anything."

"Oh. Maybe that's it. What a relief."

"Why? What did you think it was?"

"Well, for a minute there, I wondered if Nyota wanted to be the person who kissed him under the mistletoe. It's silly, I know."

"Yes, it is. And that's enough talking for now. I have something better in mind." He put his arms around her. "Computer, lights off."

...

Sulu put the flitter on automatic controls once they were out over the Pacific. "How do you feel, Susan?"

"I'm tired, but it was worth it. I like your friends." Susan laced her fingers across her belly. "You're lucky to be part of such a close group."

"We've been together a long time, that's for sure. Sometimes it even seems that we can read each other's minds." He frowned. "It was almost eerie that Spock knew where Nyota kept the lighter. Maybe it made sense that it would be close to the fireplace, but there must have been six drawers in that sideboard."

"Um..."

"That wasn't the only piece of furniture there with drawers, either."

"Uh, Hikaru?"

"But yet he knew exactly where she kept the lighter."

"Hikaru! Shut up!"

He turned sharply. "What is it?"

"Ow! Owwww!" She clutched her midsection. "Go faster!"

"The baby?"

"Yes! She's coming!"

"I'll turn the flitter around and—"

"No! I want my doctor!" She took a deep breath, and then roared, "NOW!"

His eyes huge, Sulu hit his knee on the edge of the console. The flitter dipped briefly as he fumbled with the controls, but soon they were traveling at top speed toward Honolulu.

...

Mary carried two drinks across the room and was careful to bend very low when she handed one to her guest. As she had hoped, his eyes weren't on the glass, and she smiled when he almost dropped it.

She sat down next to him. "It must be exciting to be in Starfleet."

"It is. My work is very interesting."

She turned so that her knee would brush against his. "You get to go to so many places. I've never even been off Earth."

"You should take a trip. If you want, I will help you find a good place to go."

"That would be fun." She put her hand on his knee and slowly walked two fingers up his thigh. "Is Risa very far away?"

"It is very far." He bent close and nibbled on her neck. "But you would like it there. It is worth the trip."

"Mmmm." She put down her drink and took his drink from him. "Maybe if you go sometime, you could bring something back for me."

"I would be very happy to do that."

Weaving her fingers through his hair, she said, "I want a robe made out of Risan silk, just like Nyota's."

She felt his hand slide up the back of her leg. "Can you describe it?" he asked.

"It was jet-black, very long and flowing." She untucked his shirt and whispered, "It had a white design on the front that looked like some sort of writing."

"I will ask Nyota to show it to me, and I will find you a robe just like that. Oh, Mary."

"Oh, Pavel..."

...

Janice hopped out of the flitter before Hendrik had even brought it to a complete stop, and hurried down the sidewalk. It was too late to be messing with this! And to make it even worse, there were already two flitters parked in front of Nyota's house, so they'd had to park about half a block away. Janice recognized one of them as Nyota's, but no telling who the other one belonged to. Maybe it was a neighbor's. Anyway, she was already irritated with herself, and this just added to her irritation.

She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets as she wobbled along in her impractical shoes. "I can't believe I left my gloves at Nyota's," she groused.

Hendrik trotted up behind her. "Why don't you just use my extra ones? She may have already gone to bed."

"I'm sure she hasn't yet. The party hasn't been over for twenty minutes, and besides, those are my best gloves. I'll need them tomorrow when we take Alison ice skating."

"Nyota was probably exhausted by the time everyone left. Twenty minutes is more than enough time to turn out the lights and go to bed."

"Okay, okay." Janice rounded the corner and started up Nyota's sidewalk. "I'll peek first to make sure she's still up."

She climbed the steps and peered through one of the narrow windows by the front door. "There she is," she whispered. "Spock's here, too. He's such a nice man. He stayed to help her clean up."

Hendrik crowded close to her shoulder, and she raised her hand to knock. She paused with her knuckles only centimeters from the door when she saw Spock look up at the mistletoe. She chuckled and nudged Hendrik in the ribs.

"Spock must have learned what the mistletoe is all about. Oh, look. How sweet! He's going to kiss her... OH MY GOD!" she hissed. "He's kissing her! HE'S KISSING HER! Oh my God oh my God oh my God!"

Grabbing Hendrik's arm, she turned him away from the window and dragged him back down the front steps before she exploded. Spock! Kissing Nyota! And that wasn't any chaste peck on the cheek, either. Spock had taken her in his arms and kissed her like he really meant it.

When they were far enough from the house to make noise, Janice started laughing. "If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it. I was expecting a token little kiss—I wasn't sure Spock even knew how to kiss—but damn! He definitely does. That was incredible!" She dropped her voice. "He even put his hand on her butt!"

Hendrik grinned. "Do you still want your gloves?"

"Heck, no! I wouldn't interrupt that for anything." She tucked her arm around his elbow as they headed back to the flitter. "That sneaky girl. She told me that she wasn't seeing anyone."

"It must be a secret. I would have never guessed from the way they acted at the party that they were having an affair."

She stopped in her tracks. "An affair. Now, that's even more mind-boggling." She started walking again. "But of course you're right. She used to flirt with him like crazy. I guess it finally paid off."

As she climbed back into the flitter, she thought about what she'd seen. Spock and Nyota had been great friends for a long, long time. When did they become more than friends? It couldn't have been too long ago, because Nyota had dated that guy from the Potemkin briefly, and there's no way she would have been carrying on with Spock while seeing someone else. For all Janice knew, Spock had romances like this all the time, but she really doubted it. This was probably a big deal for him, and Nyota would respect that.

Besides, she'd be nuts to even look at another man when she had someone like Spock putting her in a liplock like that. No wonder she was glowing.

Spock and Nyota. Wow.

As the flitter left San Francisco, her eye was caught by the cheeseball Nyota had foisted off on her when she left the party earlier. She picked it up and absently studied it, and she realized that it sure looked a lot like the one she had given Dr. McCoy yesterday. She smiled and shook her head before looking out at the brilliant, starry night.

End story

The next story in this series is The Flame Within