Winnoa Kirk stood in the living room completely still for a few minutes after she got off the phone with her husband. What could she do? She couldn't bring little Jimmy to StarBase 34 with her, but she couldn't stay on Earth for three entire years without George. She could just leave Jim here... but who would take him? Not to mention how furious he would be if he was left alone on Earth while her husband, her eldest son, and her were all in space. There was always Emily, her younger sister. Even though Jim couldn't stay on the base with them the space colony was pretty close to the base. Jim does want to go into space and it wouldn't be too hard for the shuttle that is taking her to the StarBase to stop by the space colony. It is, after all, on the way.
No, none of it would be too difficult and she wasn't being selfish for not being able to spend three years on Earth alone with her son, without her husband. It was three whole years. There are good schools where her sister lives, Jim would receive a great education. Besides, this would be good for Jim. An escape from the boredom he has complained about so much here. She would just call her sister to set up all of the particulars and then she and Jim would be off into space. Her to her husband and Jim to Tarsus IV.
One year later, when the base opened up for children, she decided not to bring Jim to the base to live with them. Life was so much easier and peaceful with just communicating with her child through comms.
Two years later, when the comms from her son stopped, she immediately wrote it off as him being a fifteen year old boy who couldn't really spare anytime for his mother. She wasn't really upset by this.
Three years later, when she was staring into the cold, haunted eyes of her fifteen, nearly sixteen, year old son, she would blame herself.