FIC: Stories We Tell, Amanda, G
Title: Stories We Tell
Character/Pairing: Amanda-and-Spock-centric, Amanda/Sarek, the barest hint of Spock/Uhura.
Rating: G
Summary: She will tell her son many stories...
Notes: For the where_no_woman Intergalactic Women's Day fest. Prompt was Amanda: "Things my son should know about me after I've died." Sort of a "five things..." style fic. 797 words.
i.
She loves to teach, and she is very good at it. She will tell her son many stories about teaching - they eventually take the place of standard bedtime stories.
Her favorite one to tell is a recounting of her very first day as a real teacher, with her own class, her own lesson plans, everything just the way she wanted it to be.
It was terrifying, exciting, and a total disaster. Third graders, she remembered thinking at the time, should not be so wild, so undisciplined, so thoughtlessly cruel and clever.
She’d thought she knew how to do it, how to control them, how to impose her will. By the second day, she’d had to rethink everything. The students taught her as much as she taught them, and by the end of the first week, Amanda had known she’d made exactly the right choice.
ii.
The first time she met Sarek, it was very inauspicious. It was in Paris, but not nearly as romantic as that sounds. She was there for a teaching conference, and trying to check into the hotel, but somehow they didn’t have her information on the database.
It was drizzling outside, and Amanda was in a strange city for the first time, with no place to stay.
Sarek intervened. He gave up his room to her, insisting that he would be just as comfortable in the onsite lodgings at the embassy (he explained that he would always stay there, except that the Federation provided hotel rooms to all ambassadors and as it was protocol, he saw no reason to make a fuss about it).
The next day, they met at a nearby café over lovely crusty bread and she ended up missing a workshop she’d signed up for because the conversation was so engrossing.
Most of the stories she tells her son have some point to them. After all, Vulcans want everything to be logical. But this story has no point. It’s just hers.
iii.
Amanda and Sarek disagree often, over a multitude of things. They have ever since they met. It is something which tends to baffle most of their friends and relatives, but Amanda finds their disagreements very satisfying. They are a reminder that two strong, outspoken, opinionated people are in this relationship, and it works.
It only becomes a problem when the subject of the disagreement is Spock.
Amanda knows that Spock is confused by the nature of their relationship, and she can tell that he often feels responsible when they disagree over the correct way to raise him.
After all, none of his peers have parents quite like his. And unlike a human child, it’s not enough to simply say, “Your father and I love each other.”
It’s true, but even at age five, Spock understands that it’s more complicated than that.
Being a mother is far more difficult than being a teacher ever was.
iv.
“I am finding that your assessment of instruction as a learning experience is accurate, Mother.”
Amanda smiles at her son over the vid feed. There is something different about him since he completed his Starfleet training. He seems more comfortable with himself than when he was last on Vulcan, telling the entire High Council to go to hell (he still denies this).
“I’m sure you’re a wonderful teacher. It’s in your genes.”
“A genetic connection to certain personality traits is highly speculative.”
“We can have that argument once I’ve met your new aide.”
“I fail to see the relevance to Cadet Uhura. Furthermore, meeting her could be inappropriate at this - “
“Spock.”
“Yes, Mother?”
“There’s a choral concert in three weeks, is there not?”
“Indeed there is.”
“I plan to be there. She has a solo, doesn’t she?”
“Yes. Cadet Uhura has an excellent voice.”
“Good. And we’ll all go out for tea afterwards.”
v.
There is a certain pride in his voice when he tells her that Captain Pike approached him with an offer.
“I will remain as an instructor at the Academy for two more terms, at which time the Enterprise will be complete.”
Amanda has become accustomed to the Vulcan disinclination for physical contact, but at this moment, she knows if she were in the same space with Spock, no matter how public, she would be giving him a big, motherly hug.
“I am so proud of you. First officer! That’s amazing. When your father hears -”
“I… would like to inform him of this matter myself.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.” She smiles at her son, straight, tall and proud in his uniform. “I love you. Very much. We both do.”
Almost any human watching would be unable to notice any change in his face, his posture, or his voice, but Amanda does. Amanda understands.
“I know.”
Character/Pairing: Amanda-and-Spock-centric, Amanda/Sarek, the barest hint of Spock/Uhura.
Rating: G
Summary: She will tell her son many stories...
Notes: For the where_no_woman Intergalactic Women's Day fest. Prompt was Amanda: "Things my son should know about me after I've died." Sort of a "five things..." style fic. 797 words.
i.
She loves to teach, and she is very good at it. She will tell her son many stories about teaching - they eventually take the place of standard bedtime stories.
Her favorite one to tell is a recounting of her very first day as a real teacher, with her own class, her own lesson plans, everything just the way she wanted it to be.
It was terrifying, exciting, and a total disaster. Third graders, she remembered thinking at the time, should not be so wild, so undisciplined, so thoughtlessly cruel and clever.
She’d thought she knew how to do it, how to control them, how to impose her will. By the second day, she’d had to rethink everything. The students taught her as much as she taught them, and by the end of the first week, Amanda had known she’d made exactly the right choice.
ii.
The first time she met Sarek, it was very inauspicious. It was in Paris, but not nearly as romantic as that sounds. She was there for a teaching conference, and trying to check into the hotel, but somehow they didn’t have her information on the database.
It was drizzling outside, and Amanda was in a strange city for the first time, with no place to stay.
Sarek intervened. He gave up his room to her, insisting that he would be just as comfortable in the onsite lodgings at the embassy (he explained that he would always stay there, except that the Federation provided hotel rooms to all ambassadors and as it was protocol, he saw no reason to make a fuss about it).
The next day, they met at a nearby café over lovely crusty bread and she ended up missing a workshop she’d signed up for because the conversation was so engrossing.
Most of the stories she tells her son have some point to them. After all, Vulcans want everything to be logical. But this story has no point. It’s just hers.
iii.
Amanda and Sarek disagree often, over a multitude of things. They have ever since they met. It is something which tends to baffle most of their friends and relatives, but Amanda finds their disagreements very satisfying. They are a reminder that two strong, outspoken, opinionated people are in this relationship, and it works.
It only becomes a problem when the subject of the disagreement is Spock.
Amanda knows that Spock is confused by the nature of their relationship, and she can tell that he often feels responsible when they disagree over the correct way to raise him.
After all, none of his peers have parents quite like his. And unlike a human child, it’s not enough to simply say, “Your father and I love each other.”
It’s true, but even at age five, Spock understands that it’s more complicated than that.
Being a mother is far more difficult than being a teacher ever was.
iv.
“I am finding that your assessment of instruction as a learning experience is accurate, Mother.”
Amanda smiles at her son over the vid feed. There is something different about him since he completed his Starfleet training. He seems more comfortable with himself than when he was last on Vulcan, telling the entire High Council to go to hell (he still denies this).
“I’m sure you’re a wonderful teacher. It’s in your genes.”
“A genetic connection to certain personality traits is highly speculative.”
“We can have that argument once I’ve met your new aide.”
“I fail to see the relevance to Cadet Uhura. Furthermore, meeting her could be inappropriate at this - “
“Spock.”
“Yes, Mother?”
“There’s a choral concert in three weeks, is there not?”
“Indeed there is.”
“I plan to be there. She has a solo, doesn’t she?”
“Yes. Cadet Uhura has an excellent voice.”
“Good. And we’ll all go out for tea afterwards.”
v.
There is a certain pride in his voice when he tells her that Captain Pike approached him with an offer.
“I will remain as an instructor at the Academy for two more terms, at which time the Enterprise will be complete.”
Amanda has become accustomed to the Vulcan disinclination for physical contact, but at this moment, she knows if she were in the same space with Spock, no matter how public, she would be giving him a big, motherly hug.
“I am so proud of you. First officer! That’s amazing. When your father hears -”
“I… would like to inform him of this matter myself.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.” She smiles at her son, straight, tall and proud in his uniform. “I love you. Very much. We both do.”
Almost any human watching would be unable to notice any change in his face, his posture, or his voice, but Amanda does. Amanda understands.
“I know.”