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Sins of the Father - Chapters 12 and 13

Author - Hoshissis
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Sins of the Father

by Hoshissis

Rating: PG-13
Genre: Friendship/angst

~~~

Chapter Twelve

Entering his quarters, a very apprehensive Trip sat down on his bed, waiting to hear what his dad had to tell him. Mr. Tucker looked uncomfortable, clearly struggling with what he had to say. “Dad, ya making me really nervous here …”

“This isn’t easy, Son, but as I told ya mom, it needs to be said so we can get our family back on the right track, trusting each other again. All this suspicion and evasiveness is leading to bad feelin’s and I won’t have it anymore.”

“I’m sorry for ma part in that, Dad--”

“You’ve nothing to be sorry about, Son,” replied Mr. Tucker, as he came to sit down next to Trip, putting an arm around him. “I’ve wanted to talk to ya about this for a while, more so when ya got ya job on board this ship with Captain Archer.”

Trip looked curiously at his dad, urging him silently to go on as he waited for answers.

“Ya mom been ma sweetheart, ever since high school. I knew from the instant I saw her that we’d be great for each other. Took her some convincing mind you, but the old Tucker charm worked its magic,” replied Mr. Tucker, as Trip sat next to him listening with a smile on his face. We had been dating on and off for a few years an I’d been trying to get Sue to settle down an start a family. The problem was ya mom’s career as a top-notch architect was just starting to take off. Starfleet had offered her a job designing the Warp 5 complex but it meant her relocating to San Francisco. I didn’t want her to accept it but that would have meant being selfish, standing in the way of her career. I couldn’t take the chance of her resenting me later on in life for not giving her the chance of achieving her dream. So I trusted that what we had was strong enough to survive and waved her off.

“What happened,” asked Trip eager to hear more of his dad’s story.

“I thought I’d blown it between us,” replied Mr. Tucker sadly. “She’d been gone three years and her phone calls and letters were getting further and further apart. I was glad that Sue was making a success of her life, but it was killing me knowing that I had the chance to make her my wife but didn’t. Dad told me to stop moping around and find someone else, but I couldn’t. Once us Tuckers give away our heart it’s pretty hard to go back and start again.”

Definitely agree with ya there,” thought Trip, as his mind wandered to his funny kind of relationship with T’Pol.

“Anyway, out of the blue, Sue phones me,” said Mr. Tucker. “She didn’t actually say it, but I could tell from the sound of her voice that she was upset an’ in trouble. All I could think about was jumping on the nearest plane to help her. She was very upset when I got there, but I soon convinced her to come home and let me help. Not long after that she moved in and we got married.”

“Did mom tell ya what had happened?”

“It took her a few days, but she thought I deserved the truth,” said Mr. Tucker, unsure how Trip was going to take the next bit of news. “She’d met someone while she was in San Francisco. He was a married man who was working at the Warp 5 complex.”

“Married!” exclaimed Trip in shock.

“He told her that his marriage was virtually over … I know, that’s hardly an excuse,” said Mr. Tucker, “but I’m not gonna condemn her, as I don’t know the circumstances surrounding them getting together.”

“But, Dad,”

“Trip, she made a mistake.”

“A pretty big one,” exclaimed Trip angrily, as he stood up and walked to the window.

“That may be so, but she did the right thing once she found out what he’d been saying was a sham.”

“I can see now why she wanted to keep it a secret from me when I joined up,” said Trip. “Did she tell ya who it was? Does he still work for Starfleet? Do I know him?”

“Yes she did, no he doesn’t still work for Starfleet and no, I don’t believe you ever met him,” replied Mr. Tucker in as vague a manner as possible. He’d decided that he wasn’t going to tell Trip who it was, due to the fact that Trip worked along side his son Jonathan and he wasn’t prepared to jeopardize their friendship or Trip’s career.

After a few minutes, Trip turned around, “Mom could have said something ya know when I signed up. Why all the secrecy? I would’ve understood.”

“It’s not that simple, son,” replied Mr. Tucker, taking a deep breath for the outburst he expected at the next big bombshell. “Sue was pregnant … with you.”

There was silence as Trip went white, feeling like he had been suddenly gut punched as he gaped in shock at the man he worshipped, who he’d always believed to be his father.

After a few minutes Mr. Tucker decided to break the silent void that had descended onto the room. “Speak to me, Son. I know we sho--”

“Son!” interrupted Trip angrily. “I think what ya just said makes a mockery of that.”

“That’s where ya wrong, Trip,” replied Mr. Tucker. “Being a father isn’t just creating a new life and passing on your DNA, it’s what you do with that new life that matters – being there, passing on your morals, sculpting him or her and helping them grow. That’s being a father. I know you’re angry at us right now for keeping this from ya, but when you’ve had some time to take all this in, I want ya to look me in the eye and tell me if I haven’t done all of that for ya.”

Standing up, Charles Tucker II took one last look at the angry, shocked face of his much loved child. “I’m going to see Captain Archer about some quarters. I hope I get the chance to talk to ya again before I leave in the morning. See ya, Son. Think about what I’ve just said.”

Turning around, he walked out of the door, hoping that he hadn’t just ostracised his son from him forever.

--------------------------------------------

Chapter Thirteen

Trip didn’t know how long he stood at his window, hell did it even matter when you’ve just found out your whole life was a sham. It wasn’t the fact that finding out his ‘dad’ wasn’t his natural father that was making him upset. It was more that they’d kept this from him all these years and that they hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him the truth. That’s what hurt. He loved his dad, genetics aside, and nothing was going to change that. He just wished they had been honest with him from the start.

A huge rumble in his stomach distracted him from his pondering. Realizing he hadn’t eaten anything for ages, Trip decided to go and grab a bite to eat in the Mess Hall. It was quiet, so he doubted that he’d be disturbed too much. He really needed to go and talk more with his Dad. Hopefully he’d be able to think things through a bit more over a glass of milk and some cookies.

Entering the Mess Hall though, Trip spied Doctor Phlox sitting at a table near a window.

“You look troubled,” said Phlox as Trip grabbed a plate of cookies and a glass of warm milk. “Would you like to talk about it? It might help?”

“Lets just say, don’t ever wish for anything,” replied Trip, sitting down. “It might just come back and bite ya on the ass.”

Phlox looked at him curiously, as if he didn’t understand the expression.

“Remember when I was saying that it feels like ma family were being evasive and keeping a huge secret from me? Well ma Dad just came onboard and gave me some answers. Boy, I wish I could put that certain genie back in its little bottle.”

“I take it the answers were not what you were expecting?” asked Phlox.

“Ya can say that again,” replied Trip. “Not only did ma Mom decide to keep secret the fact that she used to work for Starfleet designing the Warp Five complex, she also decided to hide from me a small thing about having an affair with a married man who worked there and getting herself knocked up with me.”

“I can understand her reluctance to confide in you in those matters as it could have made things difficult when you decided to undertake a career in Starfleet yourself,” sympathized Phlox.

“I suppose,” sighed Trip. “It just feels like my whole life has been a lie.”

“You mean the fact that your father isn’t your real dad?” asked Phlox.

“Yes!” exclaimed Trip. “That, and the notion that they didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth all these years.”

“I don’t think it boils down to trust, Commander,” said Phlox.

“If not trust, then what?” asked Trip.

“Maybe they felt like they were protecting you,” answered Phlox, causing Trip to roll his eyes. “Did you ever feel that your father wasn’t your real Dad? Did he ever make you feel that you were different, love you any less than your brother and sister?”

“No.”

“So maybe they were protecting you from the hurt you’re feeling now, having found out the truth,” explained Phlox.

“But that’s prolonging a lie.”

“Is it? Would knowing the truth any earlier have made the burden or hurt any less?” said Phlox, thinking back to his experience with Sim. “Growing up is hard enough without having such a huge burden or hurt like you’ve just experienced, thrust upon a young pair of shoulders,” explained Phlox softly, as he remembered how badly young Sim had coped after he and Captain Archer had explained his fate to him at the tender age of seven.

Trip glanced at Phlox’s solemn look as he slowly sipped his milk. He had no idea who Phlox was referring to, but it was obviously raw in regards to the emotions that flickered across Phlox’s face.

“I believe your parents thought they were making the best decision possible when they kept this from you,” reasoned Phlox. “I know this is a shock now, but can you imagine what it may have been like at an age when your surging hormones would have perpetuated any difference that may have existed between you and your siblings. Only now are you mature enough to understand the reasoning behind their original decision, whether you agree with it or not. Don’t hold it against them,” said Phlox, standing up so he could return to Sickbay, “especially now when you are going to need your family more than ever, hmmmm?”

“I won’t,” said Trip, softly as Phlox walked out leaving him to ponder everything that had happened during the last couple of hours.

--------------------------------------

TBC


Continue to Chapters 14 and 15

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