Bones had commed with Winona Kirk on several occasions before, but never like this. Casting one more furtive look over his shoulder, even though he knew Jim would be in class for another hour, he took a deep breath and initiated the call.
"Leonard! It's nice to see you," Winona greeted him. "How are you?"
Bones smiled. "I'm good, Winona. How are you?"
She shrugged and waved a hand. "On a ship in the middle of nowhere." She paused and frowned. "Leonard, hon, is something wrong with Jim? Why isn't he with you?"
"Oh, he's fine, Winona, totally fine. He's in class right now, and won't be out for another hour. I wanted to talk to you on my own. There's something I need to ask you." As he spoke, Bones reached into his pocket and fingered the small box to reassure himself that it was still there.
Winona leaned back in her chair onscreen. "I'm all ears, honey. Shoot."
"You know I've been dating your son for a long time now, and you must know that I love him more than anything. I would do anything for Jim, and I know he'd do the same for me. And, well, I know this is kind of old-fashioned, but… I want your permission."
Winona sat up in her chair and placed her hands on the desk. "Permission for what, Leonard?"
"I want to marry your son."
"I would be honored to have you in the family, Leonard. Don't even think twice about asking him, because you two are meant to be together, hon."
Bones broke into a relieved grin. "Thank you, Winona. It'll be a privilege to have a woman like you as my mother-in-law."
"Bones, where the hell are we going?"
Leonard McCoy just grinned as he leaned over to kiss his boyfriend. "We're going on a picnic, Jim. Because it's the end of our second year and I want to go on a picnic."
Jim Kirk just sighed. "It better be one hell of a location."
"Trust me, it is."
Minutes later, Bones turned the rental car down a small road that was lined with foliage. After a few miles, he parked the car neatly and looked over at Jim, who was taking in the view in awe. "I told you it was great," he said, teasing his boyfriend.
"It's wonderful, Bones," he said, still taking in the trees. "It reminds me of home."
"It's called China Beach Park. C'mon, there's a spot up ahead that I picked out already."
A short walk and a few hills later, they were overlooking the ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. The freezing water sparkled in the sunlight far below, and the cars on the bridge looked minute.
"This is a pretty big change from Iowa," Jim said, laughing. "No oceans there."
"Not so different for me," Bones said, taking Jim's hand. "Georgia's ocean is just a little less pleasant to look at."
Jim laughed softly and squeezed Bones' hand. It was moments like these, with Jim standing next to him just looking at something or laughing the way he just did that reminded Bones exactly why he loved the damn kid. Jim could take the simplest things, things that Bones had taken for granted, like an ocean view, and make them seem like the most magical things in the whole universe. Bones leaned his head on the taller man's shoulder.
"I love you, Jim."
Jim leaned his head down on top of Bones'. "I love you too, Bones."
This was it. It was now or never, decided Bones, so he raised his head and let Jim's hand drop as he reached into his pocket for the small box that hadn't left his sight for the past week. Dropping to one knee, he went for it. "Jim Kirk, I love you more than anything in the entire world. In the entire universe. I'm not even kidding you. You're an asshole, you're arrogant, and sometimes I just want to punch you in the face. But you're mine, and I wouldn't change any of that if I had the chance. And hell, this is the corniest thing I've done in my entire life, but what I'm asking here, what I'm asking you, Jim, is this- will you marry me?"
"You're right- that was pretty corny and old-fashioned. But you know what? I will marry you, you slick bastard." Jim grinned at his boyfriend, now fiancé, and pulled him into a long, deep kiss as he stood up. "Aren't you going to give me the ring now," he asked, teasing Bones, "Or do you want to keep it?"
"Shut up," Bones replied, smacking Jim. "Of course I'll give you the damn ring. You're the one who kissed me before I could give it to you."
"For the last time, Jim- you're coming with me."
Jim shook his head at his fiancé standing in the living room of their shared dorm. "Go. You should have some time just with your mom. I'll be fine."
"Dammit, Jim. My mother wants to meet you, and my momma always gets what she wants. Plus- it's Christmas, Jim," Bones said as he crossed the room and placed his hands on Jim's waist. "Please?" He made the puppy face he knew Jim couldn't resist, and got a light smack in return.
"Fine, Bones. I'll come with you to meet your mom. But your use of the face is totally unfair." He kissed his fiancé lightly before retreating to the bedroom, where he chucked a duffel bag out the door and emerged moments later wearing an outfit similar to Bones', wrapped in a wool coat and scarf against the cold. "I'm ready to face the cold," he said, muffled by the scarf wrapped around his face.
Bones laughed and pulled the scarf down, kissing Jim lightly. "You know," he said, "It'll be warmer in Georgia."
"I know," Jim grumbled, "So why are we still here when we could be on our way to warmth and your mom's food?"
Bones squeezed Jim's hand one last time and knocked on the door of his mother's large Georgia home. She may have downsized after Leonard's father had passed, but not by much. Moments later, he heard his momma's voice through the door. "Just a minute, darling!"
Sharlee McCoy flung open the door with a wide grin, wearing an old sweater from Ole Miss and a pair of rugged jeans. "Oh, Leonard, it's so good to see you again," she said, enveloping her son in a hug before stepping back to look at Jim. "And you must be Jim. It's great to meet you, honey. Leo's told me so much about you." With that, she hugged Jim too, who was taken aback by the motion. After releasing Jim, she stepped back, beaming, and waved her hand at them. "Well, boys. Come on in, or do you want to stand out in the cold all day?"
Jim laughed. "This is not cold. In Iowa, we're lucky if it gets above 20° in December." But he still shivered slightly in the wind, and gratefully stepped inside the warm house, dragging his suitcase behind him.
"Do you boys want some hot chocolate or something? I know you had one long shuttle ride, comin' across the country like that."
Bones smiled. "I'd love some, momma. How about you, Jim?"
"Some hot cocoa sounds amazing right now."
Sharlee clapped her hands as she spoke. "Two piping hot mugs of hot chocolate comin' up for you boys!" She spun off to the kitchen, where she could be heard rattling cabinets and clinking mugs as she prepared the drinks. As she was doing that, Bones took off his coat and unwrapped his scarf, hanging them neatly over the back of a chair.
"Uh, Bones? Can you- help me?" Jim had gotten his scarf knotted around his neck and was stuck, desperately fumbling with the knot. Bones laughed softly at his fiancé. "You," he whispered as he began deftly undoing the knot, "are a dork." Moments later, with a soft whoosh, Bones had tugged the scarf off of Jim's neck and hung it on the other chair. Just then, Sharlee returned with two steaming mugs, placing one proudly in front of each of the boys before fetching her own mug.
"So, boys. What's happened since we last talked? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, Leonard."
"Actually," Bones said, slipping his hand under the table to grab Jim's, "There's something I want to tell you, momma. We're getting married."
"Leonard McCoy!" Sharlee exclaimed, anger flashing on her face. "How dare you go and get engaged without telling your momma as soon as it happened? You should be ashamed of yourself, boy."
Bones blushed as Jim squeezed his hand reassuringly. "We wanted to tell you in person, momma," he said softly. "I promise it's not personal."
"It better not be, Leonard McCoy, or your butt will never see the light of day ever again, much less outer space." She smiled tightly, gripping her mug of hot chocolate before softening. "When were you boys thinkin'? I want to help in any way I can."
"Well," Jim said slowly, looking over at Bones, "This summer. We'll be posted not long after our third year at Starfleet is up, and this way we'll have a better chance of being posted together. I don't know what I'd do without your son, ma'am," he said, looking up at Sharlee as he spoke. "I've spent the past two years surviving with his help, and I don't think I'll last long without him up in space."
"Plus," Bones grumbled, "I don't know if I can survive space at all, so I might as well do it with a friendly face at my side."
Sharlee smoothed out the shoulders of her son's tuxedo and looped her arm through his. "You ready, Leonard?" she asked as she glanced over at him.
He smiled back. "Momma, I've been ready to marry this man since the day I met him."
The music started, and Bones pushed through the church doors with his mother by his side, crossing the ridiculously long distance to his fiancé.
Author's Note: Okay, so I know that in the canon, Bones' mom died when he was young. But I thought this would be a fun story to write, and I enjoyed it a lot. I put a lot of my grandmother from Florida into her, and bits of my grandmother from Illinois, whom the character is named for. My own Sharlee passed away recently, and this is kind of my own way of remembering her. I think she'd enjoy that. Gram, wherever you are, I miss you like crazy and wish like hell it had been me instead of you.