Shut The Hell Up
One shot sequel to 'For The Thrill Of It'
Disclaimer: I do not own anything mentioned in the following fanfiction, except for the character of Kristen Shaw. She is of my own design.
"What about Hailey if it's girl?"
"Hailey?"
He poked his head out from under the covers, his blue eyes furrowed in a confused stare as he looked at her, Kristen bringing her eyes off of the book she was reading to look back at him, a faint smile on her face.
God, he's beautiful.
"Like the comet? You know, seeing as we're in space and everything" she pointed out as she swept her hair into a messy bun, returning back to manual she'd been reading on a new reactor coil Federation HQ was beaming to them in a few days.
"Wait, we're in space? Really? Hm, who knew?" he jested as he leant in and blew a raspberry on her thigh, Kristen laughing as she felt him tickle his lips down her legs before returning to whatever he was doing at the base of the bed.
They were in his room, settled in the mess of covers on his bed as they did their separate tasks before heading to bed. He usually spent his time playing video games on his hand held console, as she suspected he was doing now because of the low frequency beeps emitting from the base of the bed every so often, while she typically read over something. It was much like what they'd done before, except this time she didn't go back to her own room.
Now a days, she slept in his bed.
They'd moved in together a few months back after being together for well over a year, the pair of them thriving together and founding a rock solid relationship. That day on the bridge had changed everything for them, and the better. They were happy and good together, so they'd decided to move in. She'd packed up the two duffle bags of stuff she had and joined him in his master's suite, fitting into his life there as if she'd belonged there all along.
Her time on the Enterprise was coming along well. She hadn't yet graduated, still a Cadet, but she now felt a comradery amongst all the other serving officers aboard the ship. She understood now what Pike had told Kirk about running a ship; it takes more than a Captain to run a bridge, and even more to run a ship. Everyone had an integral part to the efficient running of the Enterprise and she understood that now in a way that only working in an environment such as the Enterprise could bring. She was thriving in her job as a junior Engineer, and she was loving every second of it.
But she loved him more.
It was almost insane how in love with him she was. She didn't think anyone else could be in love with someone as badly as she was with him. It was mind and body consuming; he was her everything now, in the best way possible. She'd given him her heart a year and four months ago, and he'd been protecting it and cherishing it ever since. She'd been sceptical at first about how he'd take monogamy and a serious relationship, but he'd been better than perfect. He treated her with respect, kindness, passion, and love; he treated her like a goddess, in every sense of the word.
"Always the comedian. What about Buddy, if it's a boy?" she added, hearing him snort almost a half second later as he came back up to where the covers were around her waist.
"Buddy? Do you want it to hate itself?" he asked sarcastically as he stayed this time, producing the hand held gaming console as he went to work playing whatever game he was playing without hiding it this time.
"James, we need to pick a name. It's due any day now" she exasperated, leaning her head back onto pillow behind her as she closed her eyes tiredly, rubbing them. Who knew picking a name could be so exhausting?
"What about King Hayweather the Fourteenth?"
She brought her head off of the pillow, glancing at him with a cross of confusion and annoyance as he looked up from his console, a wicked grin playing on his lips that still, after a year and four months of being together, made her body shiver.
"I refuse to name our dog King Hayweather the Fourteenth" she deadpanned, giving him a stern look.
They'd been talking about getting a dog for over three months after agreeing they wanted to take another step in their relationship. It'd been a big decision for them, since it wasn't just about sharing a living space anymore. Together they were going to be responsible for the life of another being, albeit a dog. Regardless, they were excited. They'd picked a breed,
"Why? It's a great name" he contributed as moved to sit up beside her, his torso-naked form pulling itself out from underneath the covers so he was laying on top of them, black flannel pants covering his lower half.
"No, it's a weird name. What about Clementine?" she countered as she bookmarked her page in the manual and tossed it to the side, snuggling up to him. She laid down beside him and crossed her arms over his bare chest, resting her chin on her elbows as she peered up at him expectantly.
"You want to name our dog after a fruit?" he asked as he began tracing lazy circles along her exposed shoulder blades, Kristen already dressed for bed in a loose cotton tank and comfy plaid shorts.
"I don't see you coming up with any brilliant ideas" she retorted as she poked him with one of her hands in his side, relishing as he gave a squirm. He hated being poked.
"What about Enterprise? That's a good name for either a girl or a boy" he offered as he raised his eyebrows expectantly, giving a faux shrug as well.
She deadpanned again and slow raised herself off of his chest, placing her hands down on the mattress on either side of him as she moved to straddle his hips, her face now directly pointed as his to get his attention.
"You want to name our dog after the ship?" she asked as she glanced at him with surprise, moving her hands off of the mattress and onto his shoulders as his hands moved to her hips, pulling her closer.
"Why not?" he countered as he rose from the pillow and moved into kiss her, his lips moving slowly from her own to her neck, Kristen suppressing the sigh that was waiting in her throat to counter his argument.
"Oh, I can think of I don't know, a googolplex of reasons" she exasperated, shoving him away from her playfully.
"I think it's a good name" he replied lazily, leaning back into the head board as his hands rested on her hips, looking at her amusedly.
"James, can we just please pick name? The last thing I want is us calling the dog 'Puppy' for the next two weeks and then being forced to call it that for the rest of it's life" she pleaded, raising her eyebrows and putting on a face she knew he couldn't ignore.
"Fine, fine, fine. We want something ironic, right? That's what you were going for with the whole Hailey thing, right?" he toyed with her as he brought his hands off of her and put them behind his head, giving her a faint smile.
"Yep. Ironic yet still cool" she explained as she punched him playfully on the chest, giving him a grin.
"So how about Alpha? Earth, Federation HQ and the Milky Way galaxy are all in the Alpha quadrant of space. And it's where we do most of our main travel" he explained as he raised his eyebrows in expectation, a playful smile on his lips.
"Alpha. I like it" she said, repeating the name to herself before giving him a grin in approval.
"Good. It's settled. Alpha" he agreed as he leant forward and sealed it with a kiss, gently cradling her face with either hand.
"Good. Anyways, we should get to bed. I have a seminar with Monty tomorrow for training the techs about the new transporter tech Fed HQ just beamed in" she said as she scampered off the bed and padded over to the washroom, moving to brush her teeth. She was just spitting out a mouthful of toothpaste a few minutes later when he entered in the washroom as well and moved to join her, Kristen taking a swig of water and moving out of his way as he splashed his face with some water.
She was just moving over to the bed when she realized how cold her feet were, crossing to one of their shared chest of drawers and pulling one of the drawers out to get a pair of James' woolly socks when she froze in her spot, her eyes locked on the sight in front of her.
She wouldn't have noticed it, if she'd taken any other pair of socks besides the one in her hand. It had perfectly concealed the small, perfectly square robin's egg blue box with cream ribbon tied around it. She felt her heart slow to an almost nonexistent pace as she stared down at the box as she contemplated what was inside.
Too small to be a necklace or bracelet or watch. More or less the size of a box containing small pearl or diamond earrings.
But exactly the perfect sized box for a ring.
She didn't know how long she'd been standing there, but the next thing she knew she saw using her peripheral vision his body come to stand beside her, his head pointed down to the drawer as well as they both stared at the box.
She watched him reach in a few seconds later and pull the box out, his eyes still locked on his hands as she turned to face him. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she couldn't remember how to breathe as his eyes finally came off the box and onto her, a faint smile on her lips.
"I've had this box in here for the better part of the last three months. A part of me has been hoping that one day you'd find it so I wouldn't have to plan something more spectacular" he teased as the joke washed over her with no effect, her mind preoccupied by the thought of just what the ring in the box would mean.
She'd never thought about marriage until that exact moment. And it was in that exact moment did she realize just how natural and perfect the idea of being marriage to James sounded. Did she see herself with anyone else? No. Did she love him? Yes. Did he love her? Yes. Were they good together? Yes. Does he make her happy? Extremely. When she closed her eyes and thought of her life in twenty years, was he by her side? Yeah. Yeah, he was.
The sudden rush of anxiety and panic she'd first experienced after seeing the box slowly faded into anxiousness as she watched him open the box and pull out a smaller black velvet box that she knew would snap open as soon as he pulled it open.
"My mom used to tell me this story about how my dad proposed to her. He had this really big night planned; dozens of roses, expensive champagne, everything. He was so worried about everything else that he forgot to bring the ring with him. So a few weeks later when they were coming back from a movie, he tossed her a small container that held a cheap ring he'd bought at one of those toy vendors and told her to open it. Then he said, 'Win, you make me laugh like no one else, you make me smile even when I've had the shittiest day ever, and when I'm old and senile and can't even remember my own name, you're the person I want beside me telling me to shut the hell up. It beats the hell out of me why you love me, but I thank my lucky stars every night that you do. So what do you say, Win? Feel like getting married?'" he recited to her as she watched his eyes light up with mischief, both of them sharing a private laugh at George Kirk's unorthodox proposal.
She watched him as he looked back down to the small box in his hands and run a few fingers over the lid, Kristen's eyes bringing themselves up to his face as she watched him smile to himself, lost in thought.
"This was the ring my dad was going to give my mom after they returned to Earth. It was a family heirloom or something, but he hadn't gotten a hold of it until just before they left so he gave it to my Mom's mom for safe keeping. After he died and Mom came back, my grandma gave her this ring. Said that Dad was going to use it as a replacement engagement ring since the one he'd given her before was so small and crappy. She gave it to me after I told her I was thinking of proposing because she never used it as her engagement ring. Said she loved the one Dad gave her originally too much to take it off" he explained as he kept his eyes on the box, finally opening it to himself.
She watched his eyes take in the beauty of the ring for a few seconds before he turned the box towards her, finally revealing the content to her eyes.
It was by far probably the most beautiful ring she ever could have imagined. It was simple, classic, and stunning. The white gold band featured a centre flawless cushion cut diamond with half a dozen smaller diamonds along the band on either side. Her mind was too busy admiring the sheer beauty of the ring to even think of anything else. It was perfect.
"What do you think?" he asked a few seconds later, after the initial shock of it wore off.
"It's..." she fumbled, trying to find the words. She was relieved a few seconds later as James laughed quietly, nodding a few times.
"In fifty years when I'm back on Earth doing God knows what with my time, I can't imagine anyone else at my side but you. You make me happier than anyone I've ever known. You make me smile even after I've had the worst day of my life. You make me laugh so hard sometimes it feels like I'm going to suffocate. You're the person I want kids with, you're the person I want by my side every night, and you're the person I want with me until I die. So what do you say, Kristen Shaw? Will you marry me?"
He wasn't down on one knee, but at least he got the core question right. He was just standing right in front of her with the ring box in his hands, his eyes trained on her and a faint smile on his lips.
Her breath caught in her throat and she just stared at him for a few seconds, her mind already made up but her mouth unable to say those two words. So instead, she took the box out of his hand, slipped the ring on her finger, and tossed the now empty container over her left shoulder. She finished the series of movements with a grin and then moved to straddle him, putting a leg on either side of his body as she watched his face slowly grow in comprehension to what she'd just done.
"Yes. Now shut the hell up and kiss me, James Kirk"
((Author's Note: I'd always written For The Thrill Of It with this exact chapter as the finale. However, when FTTOI progressed, this didn't fit into the reality of that fiction anymore. Regardless, this is always how I imagined it happening. Unconventional, sweet, and uniquely Kristen and James. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it, and thanks for all the amazing support))