Upset - 9

Only three days after their trip to the aquarium Spock found himself with only one weekend left in Iowa. Now, for him, that wasn't such a problem. He knew exactly how he was going to be spending it; the same way he did every weekend, with Jim. So far the other boy had managed to come up with some plan for every weekend (not to mention day), that he had been there.

Had he been anyone else, Spock might have admitted that it was fun, too.

No, the problem was with his mother. Since it was her last weekend on Earth, Winona decided that they were going to go out and do the fun things that only adults could really do.

That Saturday morning, during breakfast, Amanda had told her son that she had plans to go out that night. At first it hadn't sounded so bad. After swallowing his mouthful of watermelon he had told her to enjoy herself. Then Jim whisked him away to play in his back door neighbor's fields until dinner time. It was then that it truly hit Spock just how horrible it was that his mother was going out.

Standing with in the bathroom, he watched her put on make up and spending an unnecessary amount of time fixing her hair. He simply couldn't understand why she kept changing it, he felt she looked beautiful no matter what she did. The entire time she worked he was silent. Every so often she would try to spark a conversation but he would only nod in response.

Finally Amanda sighed and turned to her son. Dressed in an elegant black dancing dress and an soft bun to match it was no wonder Sarek had married her. For a human she was very attractive. However the image was slightly marred by the fact that she was frowning.

"Spock," she said, her voice startling her son out of his thoughts. Resting her hands on her hips, she leaned forward to look him in the eye. "Is something bothering you?"

"Of course not, Mother," Spock responded promptly, causing Amanda to sigh again.

"Spock, I know you better than anyone in the universe plus I'm your mother. I know when something is troubling you," she said, arching an eyebrow; a trait her son would easily use in his later years.

The corner of Spock's mouth turned downward just slightly. "I simply do not understand why you have to spend your last weekend on Earth 'out on the town', as Winona put it," he said, a tinge of grumpiness to his voice.

Amanda smiled. "Spock," she breathed kneeling down in front of the child. "Sometimes humans need a sort of closer that isn't quite conventional. For Winona this is like an big way to end our visit. Do you understand?"

Honestly, Spock didn't quite get it but it made more sense than Jim's reason (which was something along the lines of sex, drugs and rock n' roll). Still, he nodded slightly. Amanda reached up and patted his cheek softly.

"Come on, let's go downstairs." She stood up and held out her hand. Hesitantly, Spock took her hand and they left the bathroom.

Winona was standing by the front door, looking just as lovely in Amanda in a shockingly bright red dress and artfully messy hair. Jim stood next to her telling her to behave herself, which was only making his mother laugh. When they noticed that the other two were coming down, they stopped and smiled at them.

"Jim, you are clearly your mother's son," Amanda commented as she released Spock's hand and stepped over to the other mother.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jim asked, pursing his lips.

"Nothing at all, dear," she responded and winked at Winona, who smirked.

"Alright," Winona started, pulling everyone's attention to her. "Jim, Sammy's going to John's tonight and your uncle is who knows where. All I know is that he won't be home tonight," she explained as a slightly bitterness entered her features. Shaking it off she smiled. "So, the house is all yours tonight. Try not to hurt the ol' place," she said, reaching forward and ruffling his hair.

Jim batted her hand away. "I won't blow up the house," he responded but smiled at his mother nonetheless.

"You make sure he doesn't try such a feat," Amanda said to Spock. Leaning down she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I'll see you when we get back, okay?" She said, tapping her son on the nose and leaning back up.

Spock nodded. Suddenly he was finding if very difficult to speak. There was a strange tightness building in his chest. Ignoring it, he waved weakly at his mother, as she and Winona strode out of the house, closing the door behind them. For a split second the irrational fear that he would never see her again flashed through his entire being.

Silence filled the foyer. Then Jim sighed happily. "Yes!" He cheered. "We got the house to ourselves," he twirled around and danced like this was the most exciting thing to happen in his young life. "Come on Spock, let's party!" He practically shouted as he started to jump to the living room.

When the other boy didn't respond, Jim stopped and turned back. "Spock?" He called. Still not getting answer, he frowned and stepped over to the boy. "Spock," he urged as he dropped his hand onto the tiny Vulcan's shoulder. It was right at that moment that Jim discovered that Spock's shoulders were shaking.

"Spock!" Jim gasped, turning the boy around to face him.

Although, Spock's head titled downward, Jim still knew what he was doing. The harsh shaking of his shoulders and quaking of his thin chest easily gave it away. Grasping Spock's chin he tilted the other boy's face upward. Even if he knew what the action was it was still shocking. After all it wasn't every day one saw a Vulcan cry.

"Spock, you're crying," Jim stated.

Tears cascaded down Spock's cheeks faster than the harshest storm. When Jim spoke, Spock tried to pull away but only ended up tripping over his own feet. Trying and failing to balance himself, he fell backward and landed heavily on his rear. This only made the tears fall harder and for his breathing to become even more erratic.

Jim kneeled down in front of the other boy. He had no idea what to do to make the other feel better.

"Spock, what's wrong?" He asked. The other boy only shook his head. "Is it your mom?" The Vulcan nodded. Jim smiled. "Hey, it'll be alright. It's only for tonight and she'll be back before you know. Besides, my mom goes out all the time and she always comes back," he continued and then paused to frown. "Although there was that one week where she totally didn't come back and we found out she was in L.A."

That certainly didn't help things. A gasp escaped Spock and a look of sheer horror came over his features. Jim blinked and looked at him.

"Oh crap! I didn't mean to say that. Your mom totally isn't like that. Crap," he grumbled and looked away. Flopping down Jim stared at Spock, thinking of anything that might possibly help. Jokes were totally out, Vulcan's didn't laugh. Clearly suggesting a game was gone too because it seemed like nothing would get through.

But then, finally, something came to mind. Jumping up Jim said, "stay here. I'll be right back." Turning he bounded up the stairs making Spock feel more alone than he ever had before.