December 4
Beep beep. Beep beep.
"Ngh. Kiera. Get the vid." Dark brown hair disappeared even further under a forest green duvet.
Beep beep.
"Kiera! VID!"
"Joanna, it is not mine!" A beautiful young woman with green skin stuck her head out of the bathroom. "You have a call."
"Goddamn!" Jo McCoy was out of bed and in her desk chair before Kiera could even disappear back into the bathroom. The Orion native watched, amused, as Jo haphazardly threw on a jacket and pulled her hair back into a lopsided ponytail. Jo looked up, caught Kiera shaking her head, and scowled. "What?"
"You mystify me. You know it is Pavel calling; why not put on something sexy?" Kiera winked, shrugging her shoulder. "Your navigator is quite adorable."
"Hey, hands off my man," Jo pointed, "and I can't wear somethin' sexy because the one time I did that, Sulu walked in the room and laughed at us," she trailed off with a mumble. "Shut up!" she exclaimed when Kiera disappeared into the bathroom, laughing.
Beep beep.
"Aw, hell." Jo quickly typed in the answer code and pasted on a smile. "Hello, darlin'."
"What is wrong?" Pavel's face went from smiling to concern. "That is not your happy smile. That is your something is wrong smile."
Jo shook her head, unable to keep a true smile from slipping across her lips. "Darlin', the only thing wrong is that I'm a couple weeks away from finals and you're not here. But it's nothin' I haven't been livin' with."
For a moment, Jo could have sworn Pavel looked mischievous before he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes, well, you do not have much longer before you graduate and will join me here, among the stars."
"I can hardly wait." Suddenly shy, Jo reached up to toy with her ponytail. Looking away from the screen, her eye landed Pavel's Christmas present, just out of sight of the camera. The sight of it struck a chord in Jo and she directed a quirked eyebrow towards Pavel. "Speak of joinin', when am I goin' to see you again?"
There it was again: that look of mischief, quickly followed by a trademark Pavel smile. "I was actually going to speak to you about that…"
"Oh no," Jo sighed, avoiding glancing at his present again. "I haven't shared a Christmas with you since we started dating, Pavel."
"I am aware of this, Joanna," he said, smirking, "but perhaps you will allow me to finish?"
Jo bit her lip. "Sorry." A sudden beeping from her computer made her jump and a smile, purer than Georgia sunshine, broke out across her face. "Hold that thought, darlin'."
"Your father," Pavel said. It wasn't a question. He was well aware that there was one man in the world who could make her smile like that, and accepted that it wasn't him. He was more than happy to settle for her next-largest grin.
Nodding, Jo held up two fingers. "Gimme just two seconds to see what he wants. I'll be back, I promise." Not even giving Pavel time to agree, Jo put him on hold and switched over to see her father in his office, looking a lot less grumpy than usual. "Hi, Daddy," she said happily, waving off Kiera when the latter looked out from the bathroom, alarmed.
"Hey, sugar," Leonard McCoy grinned at his baby. "You look like you just woke up."
"It's Sunday, Daddy. Day of rest? Remember?" Jo rolled her eyes. "You starship people have problems with sleepin' in or somethin'?"
"Just your father!" She heard Jim's voice in the background and gave her father "The McCoy": raised eyebrow, head tilt, skepticism written in every pore.
"I thought you two were bein' discreet."
Leonard shook his head, "McCoy-ing" someone off camera. "We're at work, Joanna Leigh. I know the meanin' of professionalism, at least." Jo heard someone snort and grinned at Jim's blatant dismissal of her father's unspoken admonition. Her grin sparked another smile in Leonard and they both grinned at each other like fools before Leonard shook his head and cleared his throat. "Sorry, baby, but I didn't just call to chat. I've got some important news for you, and I wanted to catch you before you went out with your…roommate." Jo ducked out of the frame long enough to make a face at Kiera, who was sticking her tongue out at an oblivious Leonard. It was a not-so-secret fact that Leonard McCoy did not favor certain aspects of the Orion culture, and believed a certain Orion cadet was a bad influence on his baby girl. Even if Jo did initiate half the trouble they found themselves in.
"Hello, Doctor McCoy," Kiera called as Jo stifled snickers out of sight. The latter could hear her father's long suffering sigh, and Jim's "Hi, Kiera!" in the background. Not wanting the vid chat to be all about Jim and Kiera's love of annoying Leonard, Jo popped back up, smoothing her hair back from her face. A blinking light on the bottom of her screen caught her attention.
"Hold onto that news for just a second. I have another call on hold." Jo quickly switched back to Pavel…who wasn't there.
"Pavel? Hello?"
"I will be right back!" His accent was thicker, telling Jo that he was caught up in something that diverted all of his attention.
"Okay!" she called, switching back over to Leonard…who was drumming his fingers on the desk. "Daddy, don't do that."
"Well, I call to tell you somethin' important, and you ditch me right off the bat. I raised you better."
The resultant eye roll made Jo's head hurt. "Oh, give it a rest. You are not the only man in my life, Daddy, a fact we established a few years ago, if you remember."
She was pretty sure she heard a mumbled, "I try not to," before a message popped up at the bottom of her screen. Ignoring the bickering match that was ensuing from Jim telling Leonard off, Jo opened the comm.
PChekov: Would you like to know my news?
Glancing up at her father, who was now red-faced and pointing vehemently at Jim, Jo smiled and typed: Yes, please.
PChekov: You will not have to live this Christmas alone, Joanna McCoy. We are coming home.
Jo's squeal brought Kiera running, and stopped all arguing on Leonard's end. Jo met her father's eyes with what she was sure was a feverishly happy look. "The Enterprise is dockin' for Christmas?"
The confusion – followed by annoyance – that flickered across Leonard's face was amusing, and not without affection. "I'm gonna kill that damn kid," Leonard mumbled, "He got to you first."
A ding signaled another message, and Jo read it quickly before looking back to Leonard. "He's supposed to be on the Bridge in ten minutes, Daddy. You take forever to deliver news."
"That's not my fault!" Leonard began to object, but right then Jim appeared in the view screen, with a grin that only enhanced his charming good looks. "I need to be on the Bridge, too, Jojo, but we'll see you real soon. And I mean that." With a wink, he reached past the CMO and terminated the call.
Jo checked back on Pavel's window, but he was already gone. Spinning in her chair, she chuckled up at Kiera's mystified face. "They're comin' home," Jo drawled happily.
Kiera rolled her eyes, but her smile was blinding. A safe return for Star Fleet crews was always a cause for celebration.
I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me.
