I wanted to post this before the new year, but seeing as I am a procrastinator, that didn't happen.

Summary: Trip is still made about the Harris incident, so he takes his and Malcolm's son and leaves Malcolm (obviously set post "Affliction" and "Divergence" but imagine that Trip had never left Enterprise nor had any shenanigans with T'Pol.) Trip eventually feels guilty and Malcolm gets caught in a Klingon attack on the ship. Set around Christmas/New Years.

Disclaimer: I do not own Enterprise or anything Star Trek related. The only character I have created is Malcolm's and Trip's son, Michael.

CHAPTER 1

Malcolm rolled over in his bed, curling into a ball and wrapping the blanket tighter around himself. It was unnaturally cold in his quarters this morning. He frowned and sighed, looking off at the small object in the corner of the room. It was the little Christmas tree they got the last time they were on Earth. He slowly got up and walked over to the tree, kneeling down to switch on the lights. He smiled at the small ornaments that were covering the tree, each one handcrafted by his small son, Michael. There was yarn, paper, foil, and other materials scattered all over the tree. Several wrapped presents sat under the tree, waiting to be opened.

Malcolm hugged his knees to his chest as he stared at the tree. He missed Michael running around the room, squealing with glee about how close it was to Christmas. Malcolm would laugh as the boy danced around the tree while he and Trip watched. Sighing a little, Malcolm slumped down and thought about recent events.

It had been months since the incident with Harris. Everybody had finally forgiven him for his wrongdoings…well, everybody except Trip. Trip had been furious, accusing Malcolm of putting everyone in danger, including their son. Malcolm shuddered, remembering their icy conversation.

"What were you thinking, Malcolm?!" Trip exclaimed, pacing angrily back and forth in their quarters. "What if we had run into more trouble? You could have gotten everyone on this ship killed!"

"It wasn't like that!" Malcolm replied desperately.

"Oh, really?" Trip said, coming closer to Malcolm. "You lied to the Captain…you lied to me! I really thought I could trust you."

"You can," Malcolm practically whispered.

Trip shook his head and backed away. "You know, I've respected that you never wanted to talk about your past, even though we have a son together. But I can't do this anymore if you can't be truthful about stuff like this."

Malcolm looked at him in shock. "You don't mean…Trip, you can't-"

"I'm taking Michael," Trip said flatly. "We're going back to my old quarters."

"Trip, please," Malcolm begged as he watched Trip gather his and Michael's things. "Please, I love you, don't do this." He finally stood in silence as Trip glared at him and left.

A loud buzzing startled Malcolm. He realized it was his alarm, signaling it was time to start the day. He cast one last look at the tree and stood up. As he got dressed, he remembered tonight was the crew holiday party. Everyone would be laughing and having a good time. Everyone except him.

After several more minutes of preparing for the day, Malcolm left his quarters and proceeded to the mess hall. He didn't really feel like eating, hadn't since Trip left him. He would have been content just laying there and wallowing in self-pity if some of the other senior members of the crew weren't so observant. Everyone knew about his and Trip's break-up, and Trip taking Michael away from him, but it was Hoshi and Travis who first caught on to his behavior, and the fact that he was clearly losing weight. They had cornered him, threatening to tell the Captain if he didn't start eating again.

Malcolm stepped into the mess hall and looked around. Some crew members were wearing Santa hats, and he heard jingle bells coming from somewhere. He briefly wondered how T'Pol was reacting to all of this.

"Daddy!"

Malcolm stumbled when something collided with his legs. He looked down to see Michael clinging to him. "Hey," he said, smiling brightly and kneeling down to hug the boy tightly.

"My hat!" Michael squeaked, showing off his Santa hat. It fell over his eyes as he bounced.

Malcolm laughed and fixed the hat. "It looks very nice, I'm sure Santa will be proud." He smiled when Michael clapped happily, noticing the boy had a spoon.

"Michael?" another voice called. "Michael, come finish your cereal." Trip suddenly appeared in front of them. "Oh," he stated when he saw Malcolm.

Malcolm frowned and hugged Michael a little tighter. "He was just coming to see me," he said quietly.

"I show Daddy my hat!" Michael exclaimed, looking at Trip with a big smile.

Trip smiled at his son. "I know, but you need to finish your cereal."

"Okay," Michael finally said, sounding a little sad. He hugged Malcolm one more time. "Love you, Daddy."

"I love you too," Malcolm said, hugging Michael back.

"I go finish cereal now," Michael stated, bounding back to the table.

Malcolm stood up and looked at Trip. The engineer looked tired, maybe even a little anxious. Malcolm knew he got a little sad around the holidays since his sister died. He shifted a little and cleared his throat. "I miss you."

Trip looked at him quietly. Unlike himself, Malcolm looked run down, and he could tell he was trying to hide it. He also looked thinner than usual. "I have things to do," he said, sighing. "You can see Michael at the party tonight."

Malcolm frowned and nodded, sighing a little. "Yeah." He looked at Trip one more time before turning and leaving the mess hall.

Trip frowned once Malcolm was gone, noticing he had left without eating. He pushed back the urge to follow him, to tell him he missed him too and things just weren't the same without him. He sighed and turned to go back to his table instead.

Malcolm frowned the entire way to the bridge. Luckily he didn't run into anybody who would ask why he seemed so upset. He finally got to the bridge, noticing everyone else was already there.

"Lieutenant," Captain Archer greeted him with a smile.

"Captain," Malcolm responded, giving him a small nod as he proceeded to his station.

Archer looked at him for a moment before speaking again. "Everything okay?"

Malcolm looked up. "Fine," he answered. He knew it was the wrong answer when Hoshi looked at him suspiciously, then shared an equally suspicious look with Travis. He would probably hear about it from them later.

"Are you coming to the party tonight?" Archer asked, seeming content with Malcolm's answer. "Chef said he was going to make pineapple upside down cake."

"Um," Malcolm started, suddenly feeling nervous.

"He's going with me and Travis," Hoshi stated, looking at Malcolm. "We're putting up the decorations."

"Um, right," Malcolm agreed.

"Oh," Archer responded. "Good."

Malcolm sighed to himself, glad that conversation was over. He looked down at the controls and databases at his station, not really wanting to be there. All he really wanted to see Trip and Michael. It was going to be a long day.

TBC

Hopefully it should get better with longer chapters. Reviews, please?