Disclaimer: Star Trek: Enterprise and associated characters are property of Paramount Pictures. I guess Chip and T'Mir could arguably belong to me, but, since their parents don't, I won't quibble over details. I mean no copyright infringement, this story is for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Trip/T'Pol Romance; Action
NOTE: It's been a while and I don't have much in the way of an excuse other than life is busy but the clan Tucker is always on my mind and I still hope to finish telling you their story one of these days.
Chapter Three — Forty Pounds of Overgrown Rat

Charles Tucker IV followed the scent of cinnamon into the kitchen to find his parents putting the finishing touches on breakfast. His sister, T'Mir, was already seated at the table as she poured orange juice into four waiting glasses.

"Morning, sleepy head," his father greeted, flipping a pancake with dramatic flare. "We were just about to send the cavalry to wake you."

Chip bent to scratch the cavalry behind the ears, glad he'd woken up before Dad sent Spunky for him. As much as he and his sister loved their family pet, no one liked to wake up to forty pounds of overgrown hairless rat on their chest.

Spunky had been given to their parents when their friend Dr. Phlox had returned to Denobula. At the time, his parents had no idea the small caged rat was going to grow to be only slightly smaller than their neighbor's Retriever.

The curious stares during Spunky's evening walks didn't phase either twin and, really, they thought he was better than any ordinary dog their schoolmates had. Spunky played fetch, rolled over and did all manner of other mundane tricks those canine companions did with the added benefit of being able to climb trees and never shedding on the furniture and upsetting their mom.

Not that the twins' mom would ever get upset about something like a pet's fur on the sofa. In Chip's opinion, he had not only the coolest pet in town but also the coolest parents, especially his mom. She never raised her voice like Timmy McAvin's mom and never "shush"ed him like Mrs. Phillipps.

It didn't matter what he wanted to talk about or what he'd been up to. His mother always talked to him like he was a real person, not just a kid, and she always made time for both him and his sister.

Not that their father wasn't great, too. Trip Tucker could build anything — from the desert he gave Mom for her birthday to the tree house the neighborhood kids all envied. He yelled on occasion, but it was rarely at Chip or T'Mir and only sometimes at their mother — and Mom said that she wouldn't know what to do with Dad if he didn't raise his voice irrationally once in a while.

He knew that some of the other kids — and their parents — talked about how different his family was but Chip knew they were just special.

All in all, he figured he was a pretty lucky kid. He even liked his little sister more than his friends with siblings seemed to like theirs. Maybe it was because they were twins and could talk to each other in a way none of their friends could. Not even their cousins could communicate the way Chip and T'Mir did. Dad said it was a gift from their mom, the way they could use their minds to talk to each other. Dad said Mom had shared that gift with him, too, and they could talk about him and his sister without either of them knowing it.

Which was fair, Chip knew, because he and T'Mir could talk about their parents without them knowing it, either.

"Who wants flapjacks?" Dad asked, placing a big plate of fluffy cinnamon pancakes in the center of the table.

T'Mir, knowing her brother, had already placed three cakes on his plate by the time Chip washed his hands and took his seat. She took two for herself and some of the cut fruit her mother offered.

"We will leave in one hour," Mom announced as she passed the bowl of fruit to their father. "Do you need help packing?"

Both twins shook their heads. Chip and T'Mir had been been packed for a week in anticipation of the family holiday in Florida. It was Grandpa Tucker's birthday and the whole family was going camping in the Everglades to celebrate. And as if four days in the backcountry of Florida with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins wasn't more excitement than your average seven-year-old could take, today would be their first time traveling by Transporter.

The Tucker twins knew what a privilege it was to use the Transporter for a family vacation. It was only because of their parents' position as the heads of the at the Rose Lake Facility. Dad was sure that, eventually, Transporters would be a common mode of public transit, but for now it was rare they'd be utilized for non-Starfleet business, let alone non-Starfleet personnel.

"Since you're both so prepared, you can take care of the dishes while I help your mom finish packing," Dad said, a teasing grin on his face as he looked at Mom. "You know how she leaves everything to the last minute."

Chip knew their mother was the prepared one in the family, remembering to pack things the twins didn't think about until halfway through vacations, but she merely raised an eyebrow at Dad as she took a sip of her tea.

- * - * -

An hour later, dressed from head to toe in heavy cold-weather gear their mother insisted on, T'Mir and Chip led the way through the heavy blanket of snow that covered the entrance of Starfleet's Rose Lake Research and Development Facility.

Behind them, walking with Mom, their father carried Spunky. Even though the overgrown rat was also dressed for the snow in a thick sweater T'Pol had knitted under her mother-in-law's guidance, no one thought it worth the hassle to wrestle him into the matching booties for the short walk to and from the groundcar.

Shouldering her share of the luggage — her bag and Spunky's supplies — T'Mir reached the door first and swiped her keycard. Registering her low-level clearance, the door slid aside and the Tucker family marched through, snow falling from their boots onto the heavy mat.

When the door slid shut, Trip placed Spunky on the floor and the rat, as soon as his feet hit the floor, ran down the hall to a waiting Lieutenant Renee Montoya.

Spunky, like Chip and T'Mir, felt just as at home at Rose Lake as he did at their house a short distance away, having hung around the facility since Chip and T'Mir had been in diapers.

Lieutenant Montoya had volunteered to change those diapers, delighted that Commanders Tucker and T'Pol had established a day care program on the Rose Lake campus shortly after taking charge of the facility. She'd used the day care for her own children — and worked herself into the rotation to watch over the various tykes whose parents also took advantage of the child-friendly atmosphere.

Though there had been some naysayers to Commander T'Pol's proposal to establish the program, Renee found the Vulcan's reasons completely logical. From her own experience, she worried far less and was able to focus more on her work knowing that her children were well-tended and only a short distance away.

Admittedly, there hadn't been a lot of enthusiasm from the Rose Lake crew when they'd first learned a Vulcan was going to be one of their new commanders. Though most of the Vulcans they'd worked with in the past had been brilliant — and much further ahead in their understanding of warp theory — the aliens had not been interested in sharing that knowledge.

It took months of caution before the crew relaxed enough to realize T'Pol was genuinely interested in furthering the goals of the Human's continued voyages into space.

"Good morning, Commanders," the lieutenant greeted when the Tuckers had caught up with Spunky.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," T'Pol greeted. "Ready to hold down the fort while we're gone?"

"Been looking forward to it, sir."

Trip smiled. "Just try not to let the power go to your head."

"Of course not, Commander," Renee promised. "I'm just gonna have some fun with the newer recruits."

Commander Tucker smiled and shot a look at his wife. Though the primary function of the Rose Lake Facility was the development of the Warp 7 engine, the team of 30 engineers and scientists were often involved in improving other systems found on Starfleet's many space-faring vessels and outposts. Renee had recently led a project to utilize current waste management and filtration systems to supply nutrients and hydration to closed-system arboretums, which then provide recycled, breathable air.

"Such knowledge can only aid their understanding of the closed-system," T'Pol agreed. "And the tanks can only benefit from a thorough cleaning."

"My thoughts exactly."