Saturn Rise (Star Trek Enterprise Fanfiction}

Accept Them All, Or You Shall See None of Them

The next day, Lili and Malcolm sat at breakfast with the children as Mary and Stuart sat at a separate table. After a while, Lili got up. "This is absurd." She walked over to where the Reeds were sitting, eating a quiet breakfast. "Look, I know from experience with Malcolm that when you're angry with anyone, you Reeds all give each other the silent treatment. It drives me batty, and I don't think it solves anything. And that's your prerogative, I guess. But I'm not like that."

The Reeds sat, impassively. Stuart began to fiddle with his napkin, the sole sign of discomfort from either of them. "And," Lili continued, "That means I'm going to talk now. You really hurt my daughter. And she knows, despite her young age, she knows who her biological parents are. And she is abundantly aware of the fact that Malcolm is not her father. And so, yes, you're right – you are not, really, her grandparents, and you aren't Joss's, either. But you are Declan's. And these are his siblings. We don't say half-brother and half-sister in our houses. We say brother and sister. And as for Doug's two other children, we don't call them halves or quarters or steps or second-class citizens, either. We call them brothers and we call them family."

"How can we be certain," Stuart ventured, "whether any of this will, will be the case in a year or a decade, or so? How can anyone know that your, your husband might decide on another paramour, or even that you won't? How do we or, or Declan, or anyone, how does anyone know that this, this open marriage of yours, it's so, so tenuous. How can anyone know that you won't start referring to your greengrocer's children as your own?" He turned away, satisfied that his point had been made.

Lili was seething, and it was all she could do to calm down. "Do you even hear yourself?" she finally asked. "How little you must think of Malcolm, to assume that I'll just go gallivanting off if his back is turned for an instant?"

"But have you not already done that with your husband?" Mary inquired. "It is not a devaluation of Malcolm, but rather, we do not wish for him to be hurt. A marriage, normally, it would cement that, that bond. But it has not done so in your instance. Even if you were divorce your husband and wed our son, how could we know that you would remain committed? It, well, it appears as though your track record is, it's dubious and unreliable, at best."

Lili felt a presence behind her. "Whatever happens," Malcolm was holding Declan, and he transferred the infant to her as he spoke, "then that is what happens. A marriage is no guarantee of eternity. I know this. We all do. For us, the vital thing is our bond together. We love each other. And we love our family. You can choose to accept our explanation, or not. But I will tell you something right now." The children had gotten up and were standing on either side of him, so he took their small hands in his. "These are three of our children. And there are two more on Lafa II. And you do not get the opportunity to decide which ones you are going to love and favor. Accept them all, even the two Digiorno-Madden lads, or you shall see none of them."

The five of them walked to the cashier. He signed the bill over to their account and they departed.

Stuart looked at his wife. "Whatever do you imagine we should do now?"

=/\=

Treve and Pamela awoke in separate rooms, but rushed to be together and spend the day together. "I presume," he said, "that once we go downstairs, we will need to deal with your family."

"Yeah, I guess so. You'll, uh, you'll support me?"

"In this and in every endeavor."

"Then let's meet them somewhere private – maybe the hotel rooms where Lisa and her family are staying. I want to have it out, once and for all."

=/\=

The five of them walked to a taxi stand. "Where to?" asked a Tellarite cabbie.

"Mount Auburn," Lili replied.