I am the teller of tales, the spinner of stories **Version 6**.

Title: Clips of Life
Author: Cassie Valentine
Fandom: Star Trek: Enterprise
Paring: Hoshi/Trip
Feedback: Yes please
*****
Sleepless in Seattle
***
"Giver 'er to me, and you try to get some sleep," Trip said as he trailed behind Hoshi who was trying to will their daughter, Mei-Lin, to sleep.

"We're okay," Hoshi said as she started another lap with a yawn.

"No, yer not. Yer dead on yer feet Hosh, you need to go to bed." She stopped her pacing to look at him.

"What about you?"

"I got nothin' to do tomorrow. Now give her to me," he said as he held out his arms to her. Hoshi thought for a moment before giving a sigh and handing the baby over. Trip watched as Hoshi stretched and headed to the bedroom.

"Now, as fer you," he said as he held the infant up to look at her. She sniffled as she stopped crying for a moment to figure what had just happened. She sniffled when she saw Trip and started to cry again. He sighed.

"Now, I realize that you hate me right now, and, I think I might be okay with that," he started as he placed the baby over his shoulder and started to walk.

"But Darlin' you're gonna have to get over this. We have another, 18, maybe more, years left of livin' in the same house together and this screamin' all the time just ain't gonna fly," Trip finished as he went inside to grab a baby blanket.

The two headed back outside to do a lap around the deck of the house in Seattle they rented for the summer.

Why Hoshi had wanted to spend the summer here was beyond him, but he had gone along with it.

"Now look at that," he said as he turned Mei-Lin to look at the lake. "How can ya cry when you can look at somethin' as pretty as that?"

Apparently, she could find something to cry about. He sighed and kept walking as she settled against his chest.

"I mean, sure, it's beautiful out here, but not a pretty as you," he said quickly. "And it's peaceful out here, except for you. And romantic, but you and your sense of timing, it's almost as bad as T'Pol's!"

Mei-Lin quieted a little. "Ah, the hammock. An excellent choice, mademoiselle," he said in a bad French accent. He settled himself down and started to gently swing.

"There, see? This is nice. Just you, me, the waves . . .This is nice," he said with a yawn that his daughter joined him in. "This is nice," he muttered again as the two drifted off.
***
Hoshi awoke slowly after a while and noticed it was quiet, too quiet. She crawled out of bed, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and went to find Trip and the baby. She smiled softly as she saw the hammock, gently swaying, the sun rising behind the peaceful scene of father and daughter fast asleep.

"Well, not everyone is sleepless in Seattle," she said with a soft laugh as she put the blanket over them.

*****
Three Men and a Baby
***
Trip gulped as the door closed behind Hoshi. He slowly turned his head to stare at the little figure on the floor and then sighed as the doorbell rang a few moments later and Jonathon and Malcolm came in.

"Nervous already?" Jon asked as he slapped him on the back.

"Just a little, " he admitted. This was the first time that Hoshi had ever left him and Mei-Lin alone. "But, I mean, it won't be so bad, right? I mean, we out number her three-to-one."

"Don't let her know you're scared," Malcolm said. "They can smell fear."

"Thanks," Trip said sarcastically as he watched Jon walk over and pick Mei-Lin up of the floor. She looked at him for a moment and Trip was sure she was going to start to scream, something she still did every time he laid a hand on her. Instead, she just smiled and cooed a little. Trip rolled his eyes.

"Still hate you?" Malcolm kidded.

"You'd think I was tearin' her arm off every time I put a finger on her," he said as he ran a hand through his hair. Malcolm laughed. Julian had recently gotten over the same stage and he was going to take every opportunity to rub it in today.

"Here," Jon said as he held Mei-Lin out to him. Trip took her and made a face as the baby started to cry.

"Aren't you two supposed to be helpin' me out here?" Trip asked.

"Hey, I pointed out the problem to you, didn't I?" Archer shot back. Malcolm laughed.

"Your turn will come, old man," Trip threw over his shoulder as he walked off to take care of the problem.

"That was a little cruel," Malcolm said after Trip had left. Archer shrugged.

"I'm just here for moral support."

Reed rolled his eyes.

"He's right. You're turn will come, old man." Archer just sat back on the couch and laughed as he found a water polo game.
***
"Remind me again why this was a good idea?"

"Because you need to get out of the house for a while. You need to remember what the sunshine looks like and leave the men to deal with the baby for a while."

"And you didn't leave Julian with Malcolm because?" Liz laughed.

"Malcolm can barely handle him on his own when he's got Jon and Trip with him. How do you think the three would fare with two babies?"

"Good point," she said as she grabbed the doorknob and took a breath before stepping inside. Everything was quiet except for the TV and Mei-Lin, who was happily playing with her hands. Liz laughed at the three men, all asleep on the couch.

"See, I told you three to one was a good ratio for this kind of thing," Liz answered as Hoshi took Mei-Lin from Trip.

"Three men and a baby and the baby wins every time," Liz told her.

*****
Monsters, Inc.
***
"Again?" Hoshi asked as Mei-Lin picked out her purple leggings and big pink shirt.

"Yep," she said, digging around for white socks. "Boo!"

Hoshi sighed, wishing they had never shown her that movie. Mei-Lin sat as still as she could as her hair was put into two pig tails before hopping off the bed with a shriek.

"Kitty!" she called as she grabbed on to the back of Trip's bathrobe. She giggled as Trip spun around.

"Well, hello there, Boo," he said when he finally stopped. She let go of his bathrobe and rolled to the side, still giggling.

"You need to stop encouraging this," Hoshi said as she crossed her arms.

"Why? She's just havin' some fun. What's wrong with that?" he asked, picking Mei-Lin up.

"Down," the 2-year-old demanded.

"Fun is one thing, but day after day? It has got to stop, at least for a while."

"Why? She's not hurtin' anyone."

"Down!" Mei-Lin started to wiggle.

"She's worn the exact same thing for the last three days."

"Hoshi, we wore the exact same thing for five years on Enterprise," he reasoned.

"DOWN! NOW!" she yelled.

"Sorry Darlin'," he said as he put her down. She giggled.

"Boo!" she said one last time as she ran off to her room. Tucker snickered but sobered up when Hoshi glared at him.

"That's not the point. We wore the same thing because we had to," the exasperated woman told her husband. "She has a whole dresser full of clothes she could wear."

Trip just stood there, blinking at Hoshi.

"Arg!" She threw her hands up in the air and headed for the door.

"Where are ya goin'?" he asked.

"To the human world!" she said. "I'll be back later!"

Mei-Lin heard the door slam and came out and looked around.

"Mum?" she asked as she looked from the door to Trip.

"She's collecting her wits." She furrowed her brow at this.

"Mike Asowski!" she said with a smile as she shook her head and headed back into her room.

Trip laughed but started to think about things. He was getting a little tired of having to answer to kitty all the time. He headed into his daughter's room.

"You know, even Boo had a real name." Mei-Lin looked at him.

"Boo not a name?"

"Well, it's the nickname."

"What Boo's name?" she asked. He paused.

"What do you think her name was?" he asked her. She thought for a moment.

"Mei-Lin!" she said proudly.

"And I don't think Mei-Lin wore her pyjamas all the time." Mei-Lin looked at what she was wearing.

"Jamies? No jamies," she said as she got down and headed to her dresser.

Trip walked to the window for a moment and saw Hoshi pulling weeds in the garden. He smiled and helped Mei-Lin get her outfit straightened up and took her outside.

"No Boo!" she announced as she ran over to the garden.

"Oh, really?"

"Yep. Mei-Lin!" she said as she started to play in the dirt. Hoshi sighed at the mess her little dynamo was making.

"So much for Monsters, Inc.," Hoshi murmured to herself, wondering what would take its place next time.

*****
Nine Months
***
Trip patted Mei-Lin on the head as he got a drink before heading off to sit outside.

The 3-year-old sat for a moment, more than slightly confused about her father's explanation of where babies come from. She figured it would be a good thing to know about since there were going to get a new one in a while.

She sighed and slid off the couch and decided to find her momma and enjoy what was left of Hoshi's lap before she had to share it.

She looked around the house for a while before finding her mother in what used to be her playroom. She sighed a little as she looked around at the new things that were in it: a crib where her toy box had been, a dresser instead of her bookshelf and so on.

She quickly walked herself over to Hoshi and wrapped her arms around her legs. Hoshi looked down when she felt the little hands and put down the pair of sleepers she had been folding.

"What's up, baby?" she asked. Mei-Lin looked up thoughtfully for a moment.

"Daddy doesn't know what he's talking about," she announced. Hoshi laughed before bending over to pick up her daughter.

"He rarely does," she answered with a smile. "What doesn't he know this time?"

Mei-Lin gave a sigh before explaining the conversation they'd had. She rested her head on Hoshi's shoulder when she was done. Hoshi wandered over to the old rocking chair in the room and she explained things a little more simply.

"That help?" she asked.

"Yep," the little girl said with a yawn. "How much longer?"

"How much longer what?"

"How much longer until it gets here?" she asked as she played with some of Hoshi's hair, not looking at her mother in the face.

"A few weeks."

"How long is that?"

"A while," she answered as she started to rock.

"Oh," she said with a yawn. "I'm not gonna be the baby anymore, am I?"

"You won't be the only baby," she corrected.

"I'm not ready to share yet." Hoshi smiled as she played with Mei-Lin's hair in return.

"You don't have to share your things for a while yet."

"No, I don't wanna share you!" she whined. Hoshi sighed but stopped herself before she corrected the whining. Having your position as only child taken away was a hard thing to take, especially when you were sleepy.

"It'll be okay, Osanago," she said quietly. Mei-Lin sniffled a little.

"You're not gonna call the baby that are you?"

"No, that's all yours." Mei-Lin sniffled, but didn't say anymore as she let herself be rocked to sleep.
***
"Nice try," she said a she came out side and sat beside Trip. He looked at her and blushed.

"Some things just aren't meant to be asked of men," he answered.

"Well, at least not of the engineer ones," she laughed, thinking about her husband's very technical explanation to Mei-Lin.

"I've decided something Charlie," she announced.

"What's that darlin'?"

"Whoever decided that nine months was enough time to get ready for a baby said that before having the second one."

*****
First Contact
***
"You're not listening!" he said as he smacked his hand down on the table.

"Jules," Liz said without turning around. The little boy calmed down a little, but not much.

"She's not listening, mum!" he complained as he got off his chair and went to his mother. Liz handed him half an apple.

"Go tell dad then," she suggested.

He sighed and glanced back at his best friend once more before going off to find his father. Liz shook her head as she walked over to Mei-Lin to give her the other half of the apple.

"He's not going to get here any sooner if you keep staring out the window," she said.

"What?" Mei-Lin asked as she turned to look at Liz crouched down by her chair.

"Why don't you go play with Jules?"

"I wanna wait here." Liz sighed.

"Come help me out then," she said as she picked the little girl up.

"But. . . "

"You can see even better from the counter," she said quickly as she sat her on the counter. "Help me put the apples in the pie," Liz continued as she placed the bowl full of cut and peeled slices next to the little girl.

Mei-Lin sighed, looked out the window once more and then started to do her job.

"He's not coming," Mei-Lin said as she wandered over to the window after they finished the pie. "He's never gonna come. They forgot all about me!" She exclaimed as her imagination started to run wild. Liz sighed as she watched her.

"They didn't forget about you," she said as she went over to her and picked her up. "They just want to make sure that things are perfect for when you get there."

"No they're not," she sniffled, crossed her arms and gave Liz a very Hoshi-like grumpy face.

Liz gave a relieved smiled as soon as she saw Trip coming up to the house.

"Daddy!" Mei-Lin said when she saw him, too. She got down and ran to the door. "Well?" she asked him.

He laughed and picked her up, thanking Liz and Malcolm for keeping an eye on her.
***
"Can't you send him back for a girl?" she asked as she peaked into the blankets and stared at her brother.

"Sorry darlin'," Trip said. "It doesn't work that way."

She sighed and watched him for a little longer.

"This is it?" she asked. Hoshi shrugged and nodded.

"Does he have a name?"

"Charles Tucker the Fourth. C.J., fer short."

Mei-Lin gave yet another sigh and decided to poke him to make him squirm. She raised her finger and just as she was about to make contact, the baby let out a cry.

"Ah!" she said as she jumped back. Trip caught her as she almost fell off the bed. She hung on to her father. "He doesn't like me!" she said. Hoshi shook her head as she watched Trip trying to reason with Mei-Lin.

"So much for a peaceful first contact," she muttered as she changed the baby and Mei-Lin stomped out of the room.

*****
Simon Birch
***
"Simon wasn't there today," Mei-Lin said as she and Hoshi walked home after school.

"Oh?"

"I don't think he's feeling well," Mei-Lin decided about her best friend at school. They were an unlikely pair, her being short and thin with her mother's features, while he was tall, light and plump.

"I don't like it when Simon is sick," she said as she looked up at her mother. Hoshi sighed. Simon was sick a lot, his parents usually at the school talking with some one about something.

"He's sick a lot," she commented.

"It's not his fault," the little girl said immediately. "It's his cells."

Hoshi looked down at her small daughter. How she knew about cells at seven she didn't know, but she had a feeling Phlox was somehow involved.

"Is it now?" she asked with a small smile.

"It's not funny," Mei-Lin said, perfectly serious. "They don't work the way they should. They don't know when to stop growing."

Hoshi took a breath. Cancer patients lived longer, but there was still no real cure for some types of the disease.

"Mine work the way they should, right? All of them work right?" she asked, looking up.

"They do."

"I'm lucky, aren't I?"

"You are," Hoshi answered. The rest of the walk home happened in silence as mother and daughter each wondered about different things that neither really wanted to talk about.
***
"Simon's not going to school any more," Mei-Lin said quietly one day when she got home later in the year.

Trip stopped what he was doing with CJ and the two looked at her. She put her bag and lunch kit on the table away from their puzzle before walking off to her room.

CJ giggled a little before Trip shot him a look. Trip watched her go and decided that maybe Simon was going back into the hospital for more treatment and left her alone.

Mei-Lin buzzed around her room for a while, not really doing anything until she found the bear Simon had given her for her last birthday.

"What's wrong?" CJ asked as he walked into her room.

"Nothin'," she said. "Go away."

"What's that? When did you get a bear! I want a bear, too! Why didn't daddy get me a bear?" he demanded when he saw the stuffed animal.

"Daddy didn't give it to me. Simon did," she said with a sniffle. CJ paused to think about this for a moment.

"Mei-Lin's got a boy friend!" he started to chant.

"I do not!" she yelled as she turned around.

"Do too! Do too! I'm gonna tell!" he said in a singsong voice.

"Shut up!" she yelled as everything around her fell apart. "Shut up! You're stupid! You don't know anything!" she said. CJ kept singing his song until she put a stop to it with a fist. He started to cry and so did she as their parents came in and pulled the two apart.
***
Hoshi and Trip looked at each other as they came out of the kids' rooms, the two finally calmed down.

"He was makin' fun of her," he said quietly. "But that's still no reason for her not to say why she started the fight."

"Simon died yesterday," she simply replied.

*****
Down With Love
***
"I hate Valentine's Day!" Mei-Lin announced as she stomped into her room. CJ watched her go before sticking his head into the room.

"I thought you liked chocolate," he said as he picked a piece out of the box she had gotten this morning as he looked at his older sister. At 12, she was even more a mystery to him that ever.

"I do, I just hate everything else. All the mushy cards, the dumb flowers."

"What about the kissing?" he asked with a sly look. Her head jerked up as she remembered whom she was talking to.

"None of your business! Get out of my room!" she yelled as she threw him out and slammed the door. CJ laughed as he picked himself up and headed down stairs.

"I hate Valentine's Day," she muttered to herself as she puttered around her room, arranging and re-arranging things over and over again while she fumed.

Everybody was convinced that she was in love with Taylor because she had given him a valentine.

She didn't understand why, since she had given all the boys a valentine. "I hate boys," she decided as well. "And stupid girls. And cards, and flowers and mushy poems!"

Satisfied with her new list of dislikes, she marched over to her music disks and picked out an old one. "Down with Love," she read the title.

"Yeah! Down with love!" she said as she put it on.

She listened to it for a moment. "Why is it full of love songs?" she asked as she took it out and marched down stairs, flopping into a chair with great gusto and groaning when she saw the flowers in the middle of the table.

She sent a glare toward her little sister, Alexa, as she worked on coloring hearts on a card she was making. Alexa and Mei-Lin caught each other's eyes and Alexa furrowed her brow.

"Momma! She's lookin' at me!" the littlest one called out.

"Mei-Lin, stop starin' at your sister!" Trip called from the other room.

She rolled her eyes and headed toward the back porch to lie down in the hammock and go over the reasons why she was so totally against this day. Trip watched her go before looking to CJ.

"She hates Valentine's Day," the 8-year-old supplied.

"I thought she liked the chocolate?"

CJ shrugged.

"She still does."

"Oh. Okay then," Trip said with a shrug of his own as the two went back to watching the polo match on video.

Hoshi looked up from what she had been doing when she saw the hammock start to rock.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I hate Valentine's day," she announced.

"Oh. Any reason?" she asked as she came up to sit on the hammock with Mei-Lin. The almost teenager sighed as she sat up and poured out the whole story.

Hoshi laughed. "Boys never change," she announced as she patted Mei-Lin's knee and went back to her flowers.

"That's it? That's all the advice you have 'Boys never change?'" she wondered.

"You'll figure it out," she said as she looked toward the new figure that had appeared in the back yard.

Mei-Lin followed her mother's gaze and quickly slid out of the hammock and headed over to Taylor to try and explain her way out of today at school.

Hoshi laughed to herself as she watched the two.

"There will be no more 'Down with Love' from her I see," Trip said as he came out to see Hoshi.

"At least not this week."

*****
Save the Last Dance
***
"I told you we shouldn't have gone to pick her up," Mei-Lin told her friends, Jessie and Meagan, as they dragged Morgan to the bathroom.

"How was I supposed to know they had been drinking?" Jessie asked.

"I would have thought staggering out to the car would have been a pretty good clue," Mei-Lin shot back. Jessie and Meagan insisted they stop and get Morgan from her boyfriend's house so she could go to the dance as well.

"I told you he only wanted to get into her pants," Meagan muttered.

"I do believe I called that about Jay," Mei-Lin muttered as they hoisted Morgan up onto the counter.

"She is totally gone," Jessie commented. "One of us should take her home."

"You should do that," Mei-Lin said. Snarky looks were sent back and forth for a moment before Morgan started to come around.

"Welcome back, sunshine," Jessie said as she helped Morgan slip off the counter. "I'll take her home. I'll be back in a bit."

Mei-Lin and Meagan both sighed as they left the bathroom and followed behind Jessie and Morgan.

"Hey," someone called. "Hey! Mei-Lin Tucker, you deaf?"

"Selective hearing," she said coolly as she watched Taylor slow down to walk with them "What do you want?"

"Hey now, pretty lady. Why do you think I want anything?" Meagan and Mei-Lin both just cocked an eyebrow at him. He smiled. "Just a dance," he said. "Whenever you're done with her."

"I'll see what I can do," she said as they kept walking and left him in the hallway.
***
"Where've you been all night?" Taylor yelled over the music. He stopped when he looked at her cradling her right hand. "What did you do?"

"I took care of some unfinished business," she replied.

"You're the one that punched out Jay?" he asked. "Well, hot damn!" Mei-Lin smiled a little, trying to cover the weak knees she suddenly developed. She silently cursed the Sato genes that went weak in the knees over a Southern accent.

"He deserved it," she said, trying to sound confident.

"Shit," she muttered when she saw some teachers making their way toward them. He followed her gaze.

"Come on," he said, taking her left hand and leading her into the middle of the dance floor. They quickly took up position as he gently grasped her right hand to hide the swelling. The teachers passed them by, giving the pair only a passing glance.

"Thanks," she said. He smiled at her as spun her around a little.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?"

"Savin' the last dance," he said quietly as he hesitantly bent down to kiss her.

*****
Father of the Bride
***
Trip sat back and watched the excitement around him. People were rushing here and there, asking Hoshi all the questions since he had none of the answers.

"Remind me again why we hafta wear these?" CJ asked as he flopped down on the couch next to his father, pulling at the tie around his neck.

"Because your sister wants it," he answered as he watched Alexa rush by, tripping over her dress slightly.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: sisters are nothin' but trouble." CJ decided. Trip laughed as the two watched the show unfolding in front of them.

"What do you two think you're doing?!?" Hoshi asked as she rushed over. The Tucker men simply looked at each other.

"Stayin' out of the way?" Trip asked as he looked up at his wife.

"Put your coats on, straighten your ties, make sure your shoes are tied and then get over here," she said, tossing Trip his coat. "And don't touch anything!"

"Yes Mom," they both said as they did what they were told. The two slunk over to the other side of the room and let Alexa and then Hoshi fiddle with their ties while they waited for the photographer to arrive.

"Scuse me," Trip said when he saw Taylor standing nervously in the corner.

"Charlie, do not scare the poor man. He's nervous enough as it is, " Hoshi warned.

"I won't, darlin'. Too much," he muttered as he headed over to the man who was stealing his little girl.

"Commander, sir," Taylor said as he saw Trip come over. Even now, as he was about to officially become part of the family; he couldn't get over the title he had used since childhood.

Trip didn't bother to correct him. The two men stood in silence for a moment as Trip sized Taylor up and the younger man tried to measure up to the expectations of the man in front of him.

"You ever hurt her and I'll hunt you down," he said finally. Taylor simply gulped and nodded.

"You ever lie to her about something bigger than spending a night with your buddies playing poker, I'll hunt you down." The groom nodded again.

"But if she ever tries to make you wear one of these without a good reason, I'll hunt her down," he finished with a nod. Taylor hesitated at that last remark and stared at his soon to be father-in-law for a moment.

"You'd never do that to her."

"You're right. I'd just tell you to suck it up and take it like a man," he confirmed as he clapped him on the back and headed back over to his wife.

"What?" he asked when he saw the look on her face. She groaned and threw her hands up in the air and sent CJ over to calm the groom down.

"You are nothing but trouble. I don't know why I put up with you," she told him.

"Sure ya do, darlin'," he said with a smile as he threw an arm around her waist. "Ya love me too much not too." She shook her head, unable to think of something else to do.
***
Hoshi sighed as Trip pulled her feet up into his lap and took of her shoes.

"My hero," she said as he started to rub them. He chuckled and she looked up as his attention started to wane.

"She's not leaving forever," Hoshi pointed out, he sighed.

"I remember when she was this long," he gestured. "I remember her first step, her first word, the first time she fell down and scrapped her knee. She has always lived in the same house as me and never been away for more than two weeks and now I'm expected to give her up in one day?"

"You're not the most important man in her life anymore," Hoshi pointed out.

"I should be," he grumbled. She laughed and moved to sit in his lap.

"Do you really, REALLY want all three kids living at home forever?"

"Of course not, just my girls." She shook her head.

"Be happy for her, you know she'll be over every second day to see you anyway."

He leaned his head against her shoulder and sighed. It just wasn't the same.

"I don't want to be the father of the bride, I want to be the father of the little one in pigtails runnin' down the street," he complained.

"I know," she said patiently as she watched her baby dance into her own life. "At least pretend to be happy for her."

Trip nodded and poked his head up to watch for a moment before he placed Hoshi on her own chair and went off to steal his daughter back for a few spins around the dance floor and try to talk her into making a run for the door.

*****

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