The doorbell rang and the three men looked to the foyer.

"You expecting anyone?" Jim asked Spock and David. They both shook their heads. Jim got up and looked through the peephole and shouted in excitement. He flung open the door. "BONES!"

"Hey, kid, came to check on ya. Last I heard you were busy making an ass of yourself. You're due for a physical anyway. Move," McCoy told his friend playfully.

"Uncle Bones!" David exclaimed happily. "Did you bring Joanna?"

McCoy shook his head. "She's in classes still, David. She gets a break after winter finals." McCoy turned and hugged Jim tightly. "I'll hold off on the grilling until after dinner. Let's sit and eat."

Jim, Spock, David, and McCoy sat down to dinner. Jim talked for a while about the substitute who had been assigned to his lectures the last time he missed work; he was a Tellerite who practically worshiped Jim and everything he had ever done. Apparently the man began the first lecture with a lecture of his own about the honor of taking instruction from James T. Kirk, the man who was the only cadet to beat the unbeatable test. Jim didn't mention the Kobayashi Maru fiasco to his classes that often; mostly out of fear that someone would hack the current program and he'd be blamed.

David began asking some pointed questions about relationships, and after a while Spock became curious.

"David, if I were to extrapolate a hypothesis from your current topic of discussion, I would think you are interested in entering a relationship with a person. Is that true?"

David blushed. "Well, what do you think about long-distance relationships?"

Spock tilted his head. "I have never engaged in such a proposition. I understand them to be quite taxing and not as satisfying as a relationship with a being in closer proximity." He saw his stepson's face color and changed tactics. "However, that is my personal preference. Beings are different and have different needs."

"Aren't you a little young to want anything serious, much less long-distance?" Jim butted in.

David began to withdraw and Spock thwacked Jim in the bond and tried to soothe the child. "Will you let us know the name of the person who has your interest?"

"Bridget," David mumbled.

Spock's eyebrows raised. "Ms. Irving? I am curious, what brought you to this decision?"

"She's been my best friend since I was five. I don't know, one day I just thought maybe I should ask her out, because I ..." he averted his eyes "... I like her a lot. She's really smart and really cool and – " The next word was too garbled to understand. Jim was going to let it slide but Spock and his curiosity leapt in.

"What was your last adjective, David?"

David looked up. "Beautiful." He looked at his dad. "Please don't be mad at me."

"What? Why would I be mad at you, slugger?"

"You don't care if I like a girl?" David asked hopefully.

Jim's brow furrowed and he put his fork down. "Why would I be mad if you like a girl?"

There wasn't an answer at first, and finally Spock sighed and put his fork down as well. "David, has your mother told you we do not wish you to be dating?"

David lowered his eyes. "Not exactly."

"Then what's wrong?" Jim insisted.

David got up and whispered in McCoy's ear for a long time while the man nodded along. Then David sat back down and McCoy took a long drink of his tea.

"Carol thinks you're going to recruit David into the secret society of homosexuals," McCoy griped finally.

Spock was baffled but Jim closed his eyes and began reciting a mantra Spock had taught him back on the ship. Spock heard through the bond and turned back to McCoy.

"This obviously has negative connotations, however I do not understand. What does she mean?"

David looked at his stepfather apologetically. "She thinks you're going to make me like men because you like men. That's why I was afraid you'd be mad because I like a girl."

Spock closed his eyes briefly. "David, you are still too young to even comprehend the magnitude of a sexual orientation. I do not expect you to follow a trend until you are much older. As well, your current infatuation falls under the category of what humans call 'puppy love', does it not? It is harmless which gender you prefer, because nothing is permanent at this stage."

"But if it was permanent, you wouldn't care if I was normal?" David pressed.

McCoy cleared his throat. "There is no such thing as normal, David. Normal is a pipe dream they used to sell in the 1980's. You can be whatever you want, or nothing at all. As a physician, when I fill out a form and it asks me for the patient's sexual orientation, I have ten options to choose from, the tenth one being 'no answer'."

David looked at Spock and said, "Mom says you're gay."

Spock inclined his head. "In my case, excusing her vernacular – for I am certain that is not the word she used – she is correct. I am considered homosexual."

"But Dad says he isn't gay."

"Again, identification is a tricky thing," McCoy interjected.

Jim opened his eyes and grabbed his milk, sipping it quietly. Then he put the glass down and informed his son, "I told Bones to put me down as bisexual. It's what fits best. If I could put a label on it, I'd be 'curious'. And I knew that from when I was your age, so if you think you're straight already, that's great. I'm happy for you. But no, you can't date Bridget right now."

David's face fell. "Why not?"

"Because you're fourteen! You wouldn't know love if it came up and bit your – "

"James," Spock warned.

"My fourteen year old son is not dating a fifteen year old girl who's all the way across the freaking continent. No." Jim put another forkful of food in his mouth and locked eyes with his son, daring him to say something back.

"Father was engaged at seven! Grandfather told me!" David protested loudly.

The table fell silent and McCoy began clearing his dishes away. Jim glared at his husband and sent to him, Do you want to tell him the truth about that? Or leave it as your father remembers it?


A/N: Dun dun dun! Whathappened with Spock's engagement that Sarek would remember differently? Will David get his way? Will McCoy be able to straighten the boys out? It all will follow. Stay tuned! More tomorrow. Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a note on the way out! I can never tell if I'm boring you all to death...