A few nights of tossing and turning later and Pike still was no closer to deciding the best way to tell Jim the truth. He wanted to ask for advice from those who knew Jim best and from friends who were parents, but guilt pricked him again. It wasn't fair to Jim to be the last one to know the truth about his father. He'd have to muddle through this one like he had every other challenge with his wayward son.

Realizing Jim would only be on Earth a short while longer, Pike messaged him and instructed the Enterprise's captain to meet him there at 1800 hours. A bar seemed appropriate for this revelation as they'd both need drinks when it was over, Pike was sure.

W^^^W^^^W

As it happened, Jim had beat Pike to the brews and was situated on a barstool on the far left. Normally, the younger man would sit in the center where he'd be easily the center of attention and noticeable to the bartender. Today though, he'd relocated to a slightly more secluded spot. Jim had picked up on the gravity in his mentor's message and anticipated the desire for some privacy. Jim just wished he knew what was so serious that Pike seemed so uptight and exhausted. There was no shortage of gray hair on the admiral's head or fine lines on his handsome face, but this evening he looked like he'd aged ten years over night. The lack of sleep and stress over whatever was haunting him looked to be taking its toll.

Pike dragged himself up to the bar with his cane, each step harder than the last, and lowered himself onto the stool next to Jim. A fatherly smiled tugged at his lips as Jim looked over. The worry about his mentor was evident on Kirk's face.

"I'll be alright, Jim. I promise."

Jim looked skeptical. "You'd better or else I'll have to send Bones over on a housecall."

They sat in silence for a long moment and Pike flagged down the bartender, ordering up some whiskey. Kirk's bright blue eyes widened in stunned disbelief. "Whiskey?! You?! I'm afraid to ask what it is you want to tell me."

"You should be," Pike smirked, hints of mischief dancing in his eyes. "I'm going to tell you something that will seem unbelievable, but is true nonetheless. Dr. McCoy confirmed it for me."

Pike handed over the datapadd he'd carried in with him. It contained the results of the scan the good doctor had performed a few days prior.

Kirk took it almost hesitantly, both confused and curious. He activated it and scrolled through the contents. He simply stared at the report for a long moment as if not really seeing it. Finally, with an unimaginable effort, he jerked his head back up to stare at Pike with wide, questioning eyes.

"I'm your biological father, Jim," Pike said softly. "I slept with your mother shortly after I graduated from Starfleet Academy. She never told me she was married and she never told me about you. I had no idea until you brought me the datapadd you found in her personal effects."

Though Pike could understand the young man's shocked, silent stare, he was unnerved by the deafening silence between them. He wanted Kirk to say something, anything. He had to know they'd be okay.

"I'm not trying to make excuses," Pike continued. "Not knowing that she was married isn't an excuse. I should have made more of an effort to get to know her. Instead, I did what a lot of young men did and I leapt before I looked. A pretty young woman was interested in me and I didn't think about the consequences before taking her to bed."

Jim tossed his shot back, but still didn't say anything. He just stared into his now empty shot glass. That worried Pike. He was used to smartass Jim, always with the witty barb or sarcastic comeback. Always with the last word. He'd expected Kirk to try and joke his way through this and Pike was shocked that it hadn't happened.

"Hindsight is 20/20. I should have followed up with Winona to make sure I didn't have a child to help her support, but I just didn't think of doing that," Pike said, shaking his head in self recrimination. "I thought she'd contact me if she needed me. George did send me a subspace message months later to tell me that Winona had told him the truth about the affair and that she hadn't told me she was married. He said he didn't hold me accountable and that I shouldn't go on feeling guilty and mortified like apparently our mutual friend Alex had confided in him that I was doing. He said nothing about your mother's pregnancy though. If he had, I would have done everything I could to learn the truth. I would have been in your life, Jim."

Pike swallowed hard and for the first time in a long time, tears clouded his stormy blue gray eyes. He knocked back his own shot, feeling the whiskey burn the back of his throat just as Winona's lies had scorched his heart so many years ago.

"Better late than never."

Pike looked up at Jim in surprise and found tears misting the other man's eyes as well. He hadn't expected that. He really hadn't known what to expect from Jim, but it hadn't been that.

Grown men weren't supposed to cry so both were fighting back the tears as if they were fighting Klingons back from the Neutral Zone. Finally, Pike stood and faced Kirk, holding out his hand. When Kirk took it, Pike pulled him into a tight hug, remembering the first time he'd met the younger man in that other dive bar. He'd remarked that Jim was his father's son. He wasn't so sure now how much Jim was like his real father, but the remark three years later as Jim assumed command of the Enterprise about how proud Jim's father would be of him couldn't have been more true.

For Jim, things couldn't have worked out better. The man he'd thought of as a father for the last five years turned out to be his biological father. He couldn't fight back the smartass remark though as it bubbled to the surface like bubbles in a champagne glass.

"Do I still have to call you Admiral though?"

"If you want to keep my ship…," Pike grinned evilly. He sobered up again quickly though. He used to believe nothing good could come of lies.

But now, holding his own son close, Pike had to admit that wasn't true. Though Winona had caused him extreme pain, she'd also given him a gift he never thought he'd have with his career in Starfleet. He'd called Jim son before, but now it would have even more meaning.

"No, you don't really have to call me admiral now, son. Well, in some circumstances, but generally speaking… no."

"Does this mean I get to make up for all those years of lost time?"

"If by that do you mean do you get to make my life a living hell, that would be a big negative, James."

Jim spared his father a mock pouty face.

Pike groaned. Welcome to fatherhood.