AN: Definite spoilers for about the first 10 minutes of StarTrek. This is an extension of my other story "Jim Loves", so if you want a short 100 word version of this scene, you can go read that. Personally I'd read both. :-) StarTrek belongs to Paramount and such. Non beta'd.
Birthday.
He's turning five today. Five, Five, Five… He's chanting in his head, a big grin on his face. He'd been chasing his mother around their home, chanting out loud, before she'd finally gotten tired of him and kicked him out of the house for the morning. He'd spent it running around with Bobby and Kevin, but now he's hot and tired, and really wants some water. And cake, cake would be good.
He bursts into the house, hair tussled, dirt-streaked and sweaty, and mouth already open to continue his chant aloud, when he catches sight of his mother. She's sitting amongst the presents and decorations, eyes locked on a data pad she holds in her hand, and she's crying.
Elation dies as he slowly walks over to his mom and peers over her shoulder. It's a message from Starfleet, and his eyes are instantly drawn to the photo at the top. Dark hair, smirk in place… he's looking at his father. No wonder his mom's crying.
He doesn't know much about his dad, just that he died on the same day that he was born. He's asked his mom before to tell about him, but she gets a sad look on her face and always tells him 'later'. He doesn't like to make his mom cry, so when later comes, he doesn't ask.
But he's turning five today, and his mom's already crying. So maybe it's finally later. He looks at her and realizes with a start that she's looking back. She smiles at him through her tears and wraps an arm around him, pulling him to join her on the floor.
"Starfleet's awarding your dad a medal for bravery… I'm surprised it took this long, but I'm glad they finally did." She hands him a small box, and he traces the silver medal inside with one finger.
"Will you tell me about him?" He's surprised by how small his voice sounds. He coughs and wipes a hand across his face, annoyed to find that he's crying. He's five, he's big now! Big boys don't cry, not even over missing fathers.
His mom draws him close, settling him on her lap, the medal and picture in his hands. And she does. She tells him about how they met when his dad was a lieutenant and she was just a cadet, on a semester deployment. How she turned him down everyday for a month, until finally giving into the Kirk charm. She talks about their long distance relationship once she returned to Earth, and how he surprised her at her graduation when he was supposed to be on the other side of the galaxy.
Her eyes are locked on the picture and her voice gets uneven as she talks about finding out she was pregnant, and going on leave so she could join her husband on the U.S.S. Kelvin. She swallows hard and her grip on him tightens as she talks about the strange anomaly they picked up just as she went into labor, why George was on the bridge and not with her in sickbay. She has to stop talking and compose herself before she continues on about how shocked and confused she was to hear George's voice on the comm as captain, and the fear she felt as the medical staff had wheeled her down to the med-evac shuttle.
He traces the silver medal slowly, memorizing its smooth edges as he listens to his mom recount his father's order to go without him, and his startled voice on the comm. when he realized he had a son. He glares playfully at his mom as she explains how she wanted to name him after George's father, and how he had shot her down. He's always hated his middle name, and he feels a warm connection to his dad knowing that it was he who saved him from a lifetime of being called Tiberius. He rests his head on her shoulder, drawing strength from each other as she tells him about George's final words before the Kelvin had crashed into an attacking ship. I love you…
They sit in silence for a moment, his mom slowly stroking his arm. He's so proud, knowing about the hero his dad was, and even sadder now that he's never met him. His eyes sting with tears, but he holds them back stubbornly. He's five now, and he bet his dad never cried, and he wants desperately to be like his dad. He tilts his head back to look at his mom, and realizes her tears have stopped and she's simply smiling at him. He grins back at her. "Tell me again?"
Finite! :-)
