"Lillian Rose and Christopher David! Get over here now!"

The two small children turned around and slowly shuffled towards their mother, "Mommy I wanna go now!" Lillian stomped her foot, pouting. "Joanna already went with her friends!"

Andrea sighed, "That's because Joanna is older than you two," she said. "You have to wait for Daddy and Grandpa."

"Mama!" Christopher screeched. "I go up!"

She smiled at the three year old, as he played with his cowboy hat. Lillian rolled her eyes at him, while he giggled and fidgeted on the spot. Kneeling down, Andrea quickly fixed his costume.

"Yes, baby," she cooed. "Daddy can carry you on his shoulders."

Just as Christopher was about to speak, he spotted his father coming down the hall and got excited. "Daddy!"

Leo looked up and smiled, "Look at you!" he shook his head. "You look like a real cowboy!"

Andrea moved to the side so Christopher could move down the hall, and laughed as Leo scooped him up.

"Mommy can we go now!" Lillian whined.

"Lillian, we'll go as soon as Grandpa's ready," she huffed, moving to stand up. "If you don't stop with the attitude, you wont go at all."

Lillian grunted and moved into the kitchen, "God help me," Andrea muttered, as Leo and Christopher came up to her. "Where's my penguin?" she asked.

"Pop has the penguin," he snickered. "Changing its diaper."

"My goodness," they heard Chris from down the hall. "For such a cute baby, you sure know how to stink out a room."

Andrea giggled, "You left him alone?" she asked, as Leo kissed Christopher on the cheek. "Leo!"

"What?" he asked, with a shrug. "He said he could handle it!"

A few seconds later, Chris was standing in the hallway, shooting his son-in-law with a deadly glare. "Andy, may I suggest that you put a warning on all of your children? While they may be cute, they're moving stink bombs."

She laughed, "I'm sorry, Dad," she said, taking the baby from him. "I will make sure that Leo doesn't leave you alone with such an awful task."

Chris shook his head, "I don't know what you're feeding her," he said. "But if it's peas and carrots, I will never eat them again."

Andrea snickered, "Oh Holly girl," she kissed the five-month olds cheek. "Grandpa did not like that at all."

"Where's Snow White?" Chris asked, looking around for Lillian. "Did she run of with her dwarves?"

Leo rolled his eyes, "Snow White is sulking in the kitchen," he shook his head. "Apparently, we're not being fair because we let Joanna out with her friends and she's stuck in here."

Chris sighed, "I'll go handle her," he started towards the kitchen. "Jim should be here soon, as well as Nyota and Spock."

"Oh yes," Leo rolled his eyes. "The Prince."

Andrea scowled at him, "Be nice," she warned. "Lillian's been looking forward to this all year."

Holly began to whimper to which Christopher started to shake his head. "Daddy! Holly cry!"

Leo patted his back, "It's okay, buddy," he said, as Andrea began to bounce Holly around. "Mama's got her."

"Mama has a headache," she said, as tried to sooth Holly down. "And she's got no patience for any of this tonight."

"It'll only be for an hour," Leo said, shuffling Christopher from one arm to the other. "Lillian's having her Disney holo-vid marathon with Jim tonight at the apartment and we've got Christopher and Holly at the house."

Andrea nodded, "Just, give me five minutes?" she begged. "Enough time to grab my mask and take a hypo."

Leo nodded, "Go on," he nodded towards the bathroom, just as the doorbell went off. "That's probably Prince Jim at the door."

Lillian tore out of the kitchen, running towards the door with a screech; Christopher slowly following behind her.

"Dad, could you take her for a moment?" she asked. "I need to go to the bathroom and grab my mask."

Chris nodded and took Holly, "Lil, wait a minute!" he shouted, as Lillian tired to unlock the door. "Jesus Christ, this kid is going to give me a heart attack."

"Welcome to the club," Leo snorted, as they started towards the door. "She's been like this since the day she started walking."

…

A half an hour later, the small group of adults and children, were making their way around small residential area of their town. Christopher was perched on Leo's shoulders, while Lillian held onto Jim's hand. Nyota and Spock walked side by side, as Nyota held onto Holly.

"Jesus, I am tired," Andrea sighed, as Chris wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "The three of them are kicking my ass."

He chuckled, "At least you don't have to go into work tomorrow," he offered. "That's the perk of being a stay at home parent."

"Yeah, but Leo has to work tomorrow," she sighed. "We may have one less child to watch tonight, but Holly's been having a hard time sleeping and Chris doesn't like sleeping in his bed."

"How about you send all three of them to Jim?" Chris suggested. "It'll shut him up when he complains about how Leo doesn't go out anymore."

Andrea rolled her eyes; "Leo has three children, a stressful job and a wife who's this close to bolting for New Vulcan at the end of the week with Nyota and Spock."

Chris chuckled, "You're not bolting anywhere," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "You just need to relax a bit and accept help when it's given to you."

"Easy Lil," Leo called out, as the five year old tried to pull Jim up a pathway. "The Prince can't fall and hurt his pretty face!"

"Please Daddy?" Andrea whined, turning to look at him. "I'll only be gone for… five weeks!"

Chris snorted, "If anyone's going on a vacation, it's me!" he shook his head. "Phil is coming back from Risa tomorrow night and we'll take the kids for a few hours on Friday. You can go and get your hair done and whatever else you ladies like to do," he shrugged. "I know Leo has off that night, so maybe you two can go out and have dinner."

"God, I can't even remember the last time Leo and I had a night to ourselves," she shook her head. "Probably before Christopher was born."

Shortly after Lillian's first birthday, their second wedding anniversary and second year of their five year mission, Andrea discovered that she was pregnant; three months to be exact. Christopher David McCoy arrived exactly on his due date, November 15th, after a relatively short and easy delivery. By the time he was two and Lillian three, Andrea and Leo decided that once their tour was completed, they would find postings on Earth. Phil managed to get Leo in at Starfleet General as a resident, while Andrea planned on teaching a few medical courses on campus. However, fate had other plans, and Andrea found herself pregnant again.

When the Enterprise docked, she was six months pregnant with Holly and ready to kill her husband; shuttling two small children on their first shuttle flight, proved to be a disaster, and something she never wanted to experience ever again. The first two months home were hectic, as they moved from the apartment to Christopher's house with the kids. Joanna enjoyed having her siblings home and at fourteen, she managed to balance her flourishing social life with watching them, when her parents needed to work or run errands.

They finally moved into a house, five minutes away from the Academy and the hospital and a week later, Holly came into the word three weeks early. After that, Andrea was done, shutting down "the baby shop" until further notice. It wasn't until recently, that Leo suggested having one more baby. But when she shot him a withering look, it was enough for him to make sure the bedside drawer had enough condoms to last them ten years.

"Mama!" Andrea looked up to see Christopher waving at her, "Mama, I have to go potty!"

"Dammit," she sighed. "Okay, baby."

Nyota turned to look at her friend, "How about you and Leo take him back to the house?" she suggested. "Spock and I will walk with Holly for a little while and Lillian is too excited to let Prince Jim out of her sights."

'Are you sure?" she asked, as Nyota smiled at Holly.

Spock gave her a brief nod, "Nyota and I will be fine with the child," he confirmed. "The fresh air may be of some assistance to her restlessness when it comes to her sleeping schedule."

She nodded, "Okay," she said, as Christopher began to screech. "Easy Christopher! I'm coming!"

….

Once they returned to the house, Leo quickly took his son into the bathroom, while Andrea sat down at the kitchen table.

"Okay buddy," she heard Leo out in the hall. "Let's go put on a holo-vid in the play room."

Andrea set her head down on the table, closing her eyes as her head pounded. A few minutes later, she felt a warm hand on the back of her neck.

"You alright?" Leo asked softly, rubbing her neck. "Head still hurtin?"

"Mmmhmmm," she groaned, before letting out a startled yelp. "Leo! Put me down!"

Leo carefully carried her into the living room and set her on the couch, before moving to take off her shoes. "I want you to take a nap," he said, dropping them onto the floor.

Andrea shook her head, "Hon, I have to make dinner for Christopher and when Joanna and Holly come home, I'll have to cook for them and make sure they all take baths and showers.." she rambled.

"Andy, I'll take care of it," he said, kissing her forehead. "You just relax for now. You've been running around with the kids all week, so let me do this for."

She yawned, "See? You can't even keep your eyes open," he said, smirking. "If you're head still hurts when you wake up, I'll give you a sedative."

"Okay," she mumbled, setting her head down on the cushion. "Don't give Holly peas and carrots. And use that package of chicken in the fridge; it's going to go bad."

Leo pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her up, "I will," he promised. "I'll wake you up in a little while."

…..

Andrea felt the couch shift, followed by a tiny elbow to the hip. Slowly, she opened her eyes and found herself face to face with her son.

"What are you doing?" she asked softly, as Christopher lay next to her. "Where's Daddy?"

"Daddy wif Holly," he said, holding his bear. "Mama tired?"

Andrea wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, "Yes, Mama's tired."

Christopher wiggled around until he found a comfortable spot, setting his bear between them both. "Holly smelly," he whispered, making her smile.

"You were smelly like that once," she said, tickling his belly. "Mama threw up a few times, cleaning your stinky butt."

He giggled, "Jo Jo in trouble," he said. "Daddy yelled at her."

Andrea frowned, "Uh oh," she shook her head. "What did she do?"

Christopher shrugged, "Mama love Tobey?" he asked, moving on to another subject.

She smiled and nodded, "Mama loves Tobey," she said, kissing the bear on the nose. "Come on, little one. Let's put you and Tobey to bed."

Getting up, Andrea scooped the boy into her arms and carried him up the stairs. Quietly, she moved past Joanna's room and into Christopher's, turning the light on in the process.

"Tomorrow," she said, setting him down on the bed. "We're going to clean up this room and put your toys away."

He nodded as she tucked him in, "Then, we're going to see Grandpa and Uncle Phil for dinner."

"Lilly?"

"Lillian will be home tomorrow afternoon," she promised, kissing his cheek. "Uncle Jim has her for tonight."

He nodded, "Now, I want you to close your eyes and get some sleep," she said, kissing his forehead. "You were a good cowboy today and tomorrow the Wild West is gonna need your attention."

A few minutes later, Andrea was quietly shutting the door behind her, just as Leo was stepping out of Holly's room; the baby monitor in hand. He looked over at her and gave her a tired smile, holding out his hand to. Andrea took it and they quietly made their way down the hall to their bedroom, closing the door behind them.

"Asleep?" Andrea asked, as she started undressing.

Leo nodded, "Out like a light," he said, grabbing a pair of pajama bottoms off the chair. "Christopher?"

Andrea pulled on a long shirt and climbed into bed, "Out," she yawned, pulling the blankets up. "What happened with Joanna? Christopher said she got yelled at."

"Caught her kissin' that Jenkins boy," he scowled, climbing into bed. "Don't laugh, Andy! She's too young to be kissin' boys."

"She's fourteen, Leo," Andrea said, as he turned the lights off. "It could be worse! At fourteen, I was daydreaming about seeing you naked and you were in your twenties."

He groaned, "Jesus Christ," he shook his head. "These girls are going to be the death of me. Lillian with her attitude, Joanna kissin' boys," he sighed. "At least Holly just cries and shits herself if I'm not giving her any attention."

Andrea snorted, "She's a baby," she said, resting her head on his chest. "Babies tend to poop themselves even when you are giving them attention."

"Hmmm, that they do," he yawned. "So, Pop told you about Friday?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am about getting my hair cut. It's been too long."

Leo sighed, "I thought you'd be more excited about our date."

Andrea looked up at him, "I am!" she insisted. "The two of us? Eating at a restaurant and dressed in clothes that don't have stains on them? When was the last time we did anything like that?" she asked.

"Too long," he admitted, wrapping his arm around her waist. "How about we try to get one day a week to ourselves? Just you and me?"

She smiled, "Think we can get away for twenty-four hours?" she asked. "Who would we give the kids to?"

"Pop? He is their Grandpa after all," he shrugged. "Joanna's old enough to help out, so he wouldn't be totally alone."

Andrea yawned, "We'll have to ask him," she said, snuggling closer to him. "Can we talk about it tomorrow? You know, when I'm not falling asleep here?"

He chuckled, "We can talk about it tomorrow after I get home from work," he promised. "I love you."

"I love you, too,' she whispered.

This is the end of Ships In The Night! I haven't decided yet on continuing with this story line, though I've had a few ideas swimming about. Maybe a series of one-shots of the kids throughout their early childhoods. Or maybe a continuation of where this story leaves off, five years after the first tour and how Leo and Andrea are coping with raising three small children on Earth, while the Enterprise jets off without them.

Anyways, keep and eye out for the potential stories. Until then, thank you for reading and I'll see you soon!