Growing up his mother, Winona Kirk, had always been distant, acting like she didn't want to know Jim. Jim's older brother thought of the new arrival as an extreme nuisance at best and at worst he blamed Jim for being there when George Jr would have preferred his dad any day. Winona clung to her first born as they shared their grief. Jim was always an outsider in his own family. By the time Jim was four, Winona had remarried, a local farmer who had a passing resemblance to the perfect George. Winona had quickly grown restless and had re-enlisted in Starfleet; returning to the stars as a technician on the USS Constellation, leaving her sons with their new Uncle Frank.
Jim was a bright lonely boy, with a desperate need for approval and affection, so he did everything Frank instructed him to do. Following Frank around the farm, watching him fix things, helping out. George hated the fact Jimmy called him Sam, because in Jim's mind George was his father not his older brother. George Jr was the bane of Jim's existence, he spent his time trying to get Jim into trouble with Frank, but mostly only getting into trouble himself. The sporadic instances of his mother coming back to Iowa on leave were painful and confusing for Jim as Winona never believed Georgie would do anything mean, bad or disruptive and she always blamed Jim. Frank tried his best to raise the boys, but he worked full time on his farm. He always let his temper show just a bit to much. The boys were fed enough, mostly sandwiches, soup and various basic replicator fare, and clothed but love and understanding was not on the cards. Jim idolised his older brother following him around, which only antagonised the older boy Jim tried to be good, to be perfect; chores done on time, top of the class at school, tidy room. Nothing was good enough.
The next memorable event in Jim Kirks's life was when Sam, sorry George Jr, Jim's elder brother by five years, left, running away in the late summer of 2243 leaving Jim alone. Sam's parting shot was to dare Jimmy to show that he was a Kirk. Jim's only reference for that was Sam's constant bad behaviour. That's when Jim decided to make his own destiny, he stole George Kirk's antique red Corvette and crashed it into a quarry 11 kilometres from home. The cop had dropped 10 year old Jim back home, Frank had been interrupted beating Jim after the car incident , Frank was arrested with his custody of the Kirk Boy's removed and a period of enforced counselling. Frank had been stupid enough to have been caught in the act by the school psychologist and child protection officers when they called in at the farm. The result of his arrest, Jim was then placed in foster care and he found out how families were meant to operate.
The Kilpatrick's lived 25 kilometres from Frank's farmstead and were loving and supportive, providing understanding and a happy home environment for Jim. He attended a new school and settled in very quickly, a good boy not the troublemaker the foster parent's had expected. The Kilpatrick's even celebrated his birthday, which was a first. Everything went to shit when the Kilpatrick's decided to add Jim permanently to their family and applied to adopt him in late 2244. Then, Winona came home and threw a spanner in the works. The negotiations with Iowa state family services resulted in Jim being ripped from the only truly loving home he had known when it was agreed that Jim would be shipped off world to Winona's cousin and her family, who would be able to provide a stable home environment for Jimmy, while his mom was away saving the universe. No nothing was allowed to tarnish the image of the widow of Captain George Kirk, especially her youngest son.
Things on Tarsus IV proved to be hard work but OK after the awful journey. Not that dissimilar to Iowa. Alice Beckett had met Jim off the shuttle and had immediately noticed that Jim was a poor lost soul, abandoned by his uncaring mother. Who in their right mind sends a twelve year old on his own on a fifteen day interstellar transport with three stop overs. Winona had stated the journey would be character building yeah right. Aunt Alice had had a few choice words with Winona about that after Jim arrived slightly traumatised. Jim settled in and genuinely liked life with Alice, Marcus and their nineteen year old son Flynn. Jim did his chores, ate the fantastic home cooked food and excelled in school. His first year there had been idyllic. Perfect harvest, making friends, settling in. Jim had a home.