Fourth Installment in Red and Yellow series:

Title: Blushing Red over Yellow Casserole

Word Count: 1,592

Summary: Jim finally lets his girlfriend, Nyota; meet his parent – Winona Kirk. They all sit down to dinner, Jim, Nyota, his brother Sam, and Winona. Winona makes her son's favorite and can't be happier to have him home. Jim's mom and brother share all over dinner, will he be able to survive his embarrassment? Told from Nyota's POV Kirk/Uhura 4th installment of Red and Yellow series

Jim's hand clenches around mine and I'm not even sure he's aware of it. "You'll be fine; this is your family, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Oh, I don't know they say something about my past you don't like and then I lose the best Communications Officer as my girlfriend."

I roll my eyes and turn to face him as we reach the porch. "Don't worry…" I fix his collar and smooth his shirt, "I already know about your stupid past. You have nothing to worry about. If anything, you're going to ruin your own night."

Jim grumbles something, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. "Hey, look at me. I've been your girlfriend for three years now, it's about time they met me."

"I'm not even fucking you…" Jim grumbles under his breath.

"I know, and I'm really proud of you for holding out so long but you know you'll get to fuck me as soon as you get down on one knee."

"Yeah…I know, I know. But it's been three years! You don't let me do anything!"

"Let's talk about this another time and yes I do!"

I raise my hand to ring the doorbell. Jim clears his throat and hooks his arm through mine. A woman with bright blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair answers the door. She smiles brightly and I know she's Jim's mother before she even opens her mouth.

"Hey, honey! Well you lied to me; she's even prettier than what you said."

I smile politely and nod, "Thank you."

"So this is who's been keeping our Jimmy out of trouble." A tall man says from behind Winona. He has dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He sticks out a hand and flashes the same smile all of them have. "I'm George, but you can call me Sam."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Nyota."

"Well come on in, Mom made your favorite."

Jim smiles and escorts me inside, his mother closing the door behind us. We make our way to the dining room and Jim pulls out my chair before sitting down next to me.

The table is already set and I smile at Jim's favorite. "So you like casserole?"

"It's my favorite homemade dish."

"I'll keep that in mind when you marry me."

Sam laughs as he sits across from Jim. "Ooo, buddy, you better do it quick, she's already talking about marriage. How long have you two been dating?"

"Three years, four months." Jim answers, beginning to tap his knuckles on the tabletop. Sam shakes his head and looks at me. "If I were you, I would've popped the question my own self."

I laugh and smile at him while Jim just shakes his head.

"I'll do it when I'm ready and when I know. I'm not ready and I don't know."

"You don't know what?"

"If…you're the right one for me."

"When will you know?"

"Fairly soon..."

I smooth the skirt of my sundress as Winona sits at the table. We hold hands and say grace before digging in.

"You don't know how scared Jim was to come here."

"Oh trust us honey, we know. He didn't want to bring his first girlfriend here all those years ago and not a thing has changed since." Winona says, scooping out some casserole for Sam and herself. "He acts like we're terrible. If the girl's able to date him then she's strong enough to take us, am I right?"

I nod and laugh. Jim stuffs his face with casserole and avoids my gaze. Winona takes one look at her son and smiles fondly.

"That reminds me of something. Sammy, do you remember the time when Jimmy was five and you wanted his casserole?"

Sam laughs heartily and smiles at his little brother's flushed face. "Of course, that boy stuffed it down his throat like he was a turkey."

I laugh and glance at my boyfriend who's being oddly quiet. I nudge him and he looks at me. I offer him a brave smile before returning my attention to Winona and Sam.

The night goes on with more embarrassing tales of Jim, the color draining from his face with everyone. When dinner's over we all sit on the couch and flip through Winona's endless supply of photo albums.

The first are all pictures of the family before Jim came along, some have Winona pregnant with Jim though. I smile at Jim's baby pictures and how blue his eyes were even back then. When all the photo albums have been raided we watch home videos.

My favorite is the one where Jim is a three year old in the bathtub, playing with a toy starship. "Aw! Look how cute your tushy is! I just wanna squeeze it!" I shout at the screen, making Winona and Sam laugh.

"Always had a nice tushy."

"Mom!"

"What? It's a great tushy!" I laugh and kiss his cheek, rubbing his thigh comfortingly. "Oh, don't be such a baby, I'll show you my baby pictures and then we'll be even!"

"Nothing…can ever make up for this."

"Don't be so dramatic." Sam says. "Hey, when am I going to see Lenny again?"

"I don't know; Bones is visiting his daughter right now."

"I liked him, he was funny."

"Everyone likes Bones, despite him being one grumpy son of a bitch." I reply, making all of them laugh.

Jim pulls me closer to him and kisses my forehead. "That's my girl! That's how we talk here in Iowa!" I laugh and shake my head at him before continuing to watch the videos of Sam and Jim in their Halloween costumes.

I can't quite remember where I fell asleep but Jim roused me gently, my head is resting in his lap. "Come on, time to go."

I hug them goodbye and Winona gives us some leftover casserole that Jim will probably devour on the drive to his place.

Jim carries me out to the sidewalk before putting me down to tie his shoe. I yawn and pull his black leather jacket tighter around me as the wind picks up.

"Hurry, I'm getting cold."

Jim smiles to himself before taking something out of his shoe and looking up at me. Oh my god! It's a ring! He's proposing to me! It's a ring!

My hand covers my mouth and I feel tears prick the back of my eyes. "Oh my god, oh my god, Jim!"

He smiles up at me, all white teeth and blue eyes. "I know, I know…it's been a long time comin'. I want to be with you…for the rest of my life and I know now you're the right girl because you're the only one who can handle all of that." He jabs a thumb in the direction of the house where I see Winona and Sam standing on the porch, watching.

I smile and laugh at it all, they knew. "And don't think I'm doing this just to get in those gorgeous pants of yours, because I'm not." He shrugs, "okay like yeah I am but it's a very small reason."

I laugh and shove his shoulder. "Nyota Uhura, the best Communications Officer in all of Starfleet…will you marry me?"

Tears stream down my face and I nod. "Of course, of course, I will you idiot! I will marry your cute tushy and the rest of you!"

Jim laughs and stands up, sliding the expensive ring onto my finger. He wraps his arms around my waist and picks me up as if I was a feather, spinning me around. I hold up my hand and flash the ring to them.

I jump up and down as Winona turns to her son and whispers, "if he didn't marry her I was going to spank him."

Sam laughs and smiles at us. We wave goodbye before driving off to Jims' apartment. Jim carries me bridal style inside and I smile, "practicing for the wedding night are we?"

"Haha, yeah. I'm so glad you said yes, a small part of me thought you would say no."

"I would never do that!"

"I know." Jim throws me onto the bed. He strips into his underwear and jumps into bed right next to me. He leans in for a kiss and I place a hand on his chest.

"No sex yet, I want it on our wedding night, okay? Just wait a little longer for me okay?"

I can see he's not happy about it but he smiles anyway. "I'll wait as long as it takes."

"Thank you for not pressuring me by the way. Most guys would have given up on me before now."

"Well you're not most girls."

"I love you."

"I love you too…that's why we're engaged." I scream and tackle him to the bed. "James T. Kirk is my fiancé! How many girls have gotten to say that? One, this girl! They might've shared your bed but I got the ring!"

Jim laughs and makes it hard to kiss him with all his smiling.

FIN