I never liked the reboot's treatment of Winona Kirk, or the extrapolations that she was a bad or negligent mother. It seemed unfair to treat her so harshly.

The opening scene of the 2009 movie depicted a woman listening to her husband's dying moments as she gave birth to their second son. It must have been horrific. However, I cannot see how this would turn her against her husband's son, whom he named so lovingly with his final moments.

The adult Jim Kirk we see in the beginning of the movie certainly has some issues, and it is clear his childhood contributed to them. It must have been hard. By limited accounts, it seems certain that Winona continued her career in Starfleet, and was separated from her young children for months at a time; children who may not have been able to understand why their mother had to go away.

In America, we punish working mothers brutally for having careers, and look down on single mothers as less than adequate. We view them as bad mothers, mothers who don't love their children enough, and we blame them if their children don't turn out perfectly. I feel that this idea; the idea that Winona damaged her son, that she didn't love him, and that it was Captain Pike, Jim's pseudo father figure, who finally saved him, is a reflection of a culture with a very narrow definition of what a good mother is.

By all accounts, Jim Kirk (eventually) grew up to be a brave, compassionate leader, with an uncompromising moral compass. Pike may have helped him push past his immaturity, but we are wrong to assume he instilled those values in a 22 year old. They had to have been there all along, and they had to come from somewhere… or rather, someone.

But this story is not about Kirk, it's about his mother. A woman whose story we were introduced to with heartbreak, and who, like every mother, was flawed.

But I don't think she failed her son.

Author's Notes:

This story takes place in "The Next Chapter" universe, but it is not necessary to read it.

I am writing this on a few assumptions the movies leave ambiguous:

Winona was a Starfleet Officer. I can't see another way for Starfleet to allow an 8-9 months pregnant woman on a Starship.

Jim was George and Winona's second son. The timeline changed on the day of Jim's birth, so it should all technically be TOS compliant until then.

Frank was Winona's second husband, and the infamous car was his. This fits better with the story. My fic-my rules :-)

Details I'm adding which I think make sense, but there is no real evidence to support it:

Starfleet had programs in place for parents - It would have been COMPLETELY irresponsible for George and Winona to have had 2 children with absolutely no means of caring for them.

Starfleet Academy is a 3 year grad school. Most human cadets go from ages 22-25, but it is possible to go younger if you finish college early. The movie is fuzzy on this detail, so I'm just defining it. I have already vaguely implied this in my other fic. I just don't think it's possible to have acquired an education to be a Starfleet officer with just 3 years at the Academy, and no other knowledge base.

Tiberius was a Starfleet officer - with a name like Tiberius what else could he have been?