1.

"Captain's Starlog, May 17th 2156: Today is our last day on Earth for some time. After visiting friends and family, we are returning to the Enterprise today. We'll also be bringing a new crew member with us from Jacksonville, Ensign Sara Callahan Rhodes. Ensign Rhodes is a nurse, and came highly recommended by our own Doctor Phlox. If the notes in her file are any indication, she'll fit in well with the rest of the crew."

"It's time to go, ma'am."

Sara Callahan Rhodes looked up from checking her belongings and turned pale. She had been dreading this moment all day, and now it was here: the moment when she would be leaving her family and joining the crew of the Enterprise. The assignment was one that she previously only dreamed of, never expecting that the prestigious assignment would actually fall to her. But it had, and she had no other choice but to leave now. The Enterprise wouldn't be able to pick her up for months, if that, if she didn't leave with the crew now.

"Thank you," she said. She finished checking her belongings and turned to her family. She bid her parents and her in laws goodbye first, and then turned to her children. They stared up at her, clearly trying their hardest not to cry, which only succeeded in making Sara tear up herself.

Her children. The most important things in the world to her, the reasons she had joined Starfleet in the first place. She hated to leave them, especially for such a long time with no guarantee of returning in one piece, or at all. Charlie and Jimmy had just turned nine-nearly teenagers-and understood the dangers inherent in a Starfleet career, but little Elizabeth was not yet three, and all she understood was that Mommy was going away for a long time and wouldn't be able to read her stories or tuck her in at night.

"OK boys, now do you remember what I told you?" Sara asked, trying to keep her voice even.

Charlie nodded. "Take care of Lizzie," he said, holding his baby sister's hand tightly in his. "And listen to Grandma Jennie and Nana Katie and Grandpa James and Pappy Alexander."

"And what else?"

"Behave ourselves," Jimmy chimed in. "And do our homework and go to soccer practice. And be helpful."

"And the last thing?"

"Take care Bilbo!" Elizabeth piped up, an expression on her face that said she was clearly proud of herself for remembering what her mother said about their somewhat new dog.

Sara smiled at her children. "Good work, all three of you," she said, ruffling Charlie's hair. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around. She smiled as she recognized Doctor Phlox, the Enterprise's doctor.

"Good to see you again, Doctor," Sara said. "And I can't thank you enough for the recommendation. I never expected it…"

"Despite what you seem to think, Sara, you make a strong impression on people," the Denobulan said. "And you were the first person I thought of when Captain Archer informed me I would be getting a nurse. I enjoyed working with you in St. Augustine, and I look forward to working with you again." He looked behind Sara and grinned. "Ah, I see the children are here! I haven't seen your boys since they were quite a bit smaller."

Sara motioned her children forward. "Come say hi to the doctor, kids." The boys came forward with no hesitation; they'd met Phlox before. But little Elizabeth stayed right where she was, thumb in her mouth, eyes wide. "It's OK, sweetie. He's a friend of Mommy." Elizabeth hesitantly toddled forward and clung to Sara's leg with her free arm.

Phlox knelt on the ground so he was just about eye level with Elizabeth. "You've never seen a Denobulan before, have you?" he asked. Elizabeth shook her head. "Well, I can tell you, I've been told I'm quite friendly. My name is Phlox."

Elizabeth took her thumb out of her mouth. "My name Elizabeth," she said.

"It's very nice to meet you, Elizabeth. How old are you?" Elizabeth held up two fingers. "Two years old. My goodness, you're almost an adult!"

Elizabeth giggled. "Wanna see funny face?" she asked. When Phlox nodded, Elizabeth stuck her fingers in her mouth and pulled out the sides, sticking her tongue out at the same time.

Phlox laughed. "That IS a funny face," he said. "Would you like to see what some Humans think is my funny face?" Elizabeth nodded, and Sara braced herself for the worst. She knew exactly what Phlox intended to do, and it wasn't necessarily something a two year old would find funny, if the adult reactions to it were any indication. Sure enough, Phlox arranged his face in the famous-and terrifying, depending on who was being asked-Denobulan smile. Sara waited for her daughter's telltale scream of terror.

Her worries, however, were completely unfounded. Like her older brothers, Elizabeth found the Denobulan's smile hysterically funny, and she clapped her hands happily at it. "Again!" she said, squealing with laughter as Phlox obliged her. "I like you," she said with a nod. "You funny!"

"It looks like she's following in her brothers' footsteps," Phlox said happily. "There aren't many Humans who find my smile amusing. In any case, we better be going. Captain Archer is waiting for us."

Sara hugged her children and the rest of her family one more time, then picked up her duffle bags and followed Phlox to the shuttlepod, trying for all the world to look like she wasn't about to break down and cry. Suddenly, she heard a cry of "MOMMY!" from behind her. She turned, dropped her duffle bags, and picked up Elizabeth in one last hug as the little girl ran towards her.

"It's all right, baby," she whispered, cuddling her daughter close and rubbing her back. "Mommy's going to be home soon. You be a good girl for your grandparents and your big brothers." After a few moments, she put her daughter down and nudged her towards her older brothers.

As she picked up her duffle bags and turned around to continue the walk to the shuttlepod, her eyes met a pair so familiar she would know them anywhere, and for the first time in at least a decade and a half, Sara found herself very nearly face to face with a very unhappy-looking Trip Tucker.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. "I wasn't expecting this…"