"Are you pregnant?" was the first thing Chris asked when Joanna left the room. The look on Jim's face was priceless, a mix between shock and confusion and hurt.

"Because that's the only way I'd ever end up married? Wow, dad. Thanks," she said with a sigh.

"Christopher Richard Pike Boyce, apologize to our daughter right now," Phil growled.

"Sorry, kid," Chris mumbled. "It's just… help me understand."

Jim nodded, "Remember what gam gam said when you got married? 'It doesn't matter what anyone thinks, you only have to answer to yourself. You're the one living your life, don't let anything that anyone says influence that.' I'm happy. While I love you and value your thoughts and opinions, I don't need your permission and papa already gave us his blessing."

"You did what!?" Chris turned his glare from Leonard to his husband. Jim chuckled but Leonard was too scared to. "You gave your blessing for them to get married?"

"Yes, I did. She's happy, Chris. They both are, that's all that matters to me," Phil said.

"Okay, Phil. But what about…" Chris paused, trying to find the right words.

"The money, you can say it," Jim offered. "It's what you're thinking… even though you know better."

"I don't want it," Leonard told the older men. "I'll sign a pre-nup if it'll make you feel better."

"No, you won't," Jim declared.

"It's a legally sound option," Chris told her as he pulled out his phone. "I'll call the lawyer and have them draw something up."

"You can sign it then. What Bones and I decide to do has nothing to do with you," Jim said to her dad. Phil was trying to play referee but it wasn't working. "I'm going for a walk. I am allowed to do that, right, dad?"

"I'm just trying to protect you, Jim. I know you're upset with me but you have to see it from my point of view," Chris told her.

"Funny, that's what Charlie said before he called you an abomination and stopped talking to you," Jim growled before grabbing her keys and walking out of the condo. Leonard was torn between going after her and staying with her parents. Chris dropped onto the couch next to Phil.

"You know she didn't mean that, Chris. But she does have a point," Phil said.

"Oh, yeah. What's that?" Chris asked.

"That your father wasn't happy with your choice either," Leonard said. "She told me. Funny thing is, from what I see, you did good. Phil's all kinds of awesome and he talks about you like you hung the stars in the sky." The southerner sighed. "I did the whole parental approved wedding thing… it lasted long enough for my ex to have a baby and the whole thing to fall apart. The benefit of being married before, I know what I want. Jim's it for me whether she marries me or not. I'll do anything to make her, and Jo, happy."

Chris looked at him for a long minute before he nodded, "I'm still gonna talk her into a pre-nup."

"You can try. I don't want anything from her and I'm more than happy to put it on paper but I doubt she'll let me. She's stubborn," Leonard said.

"She gets it from him," Phil quipped. "Ring?"

"I wasn't exactly planning to ask her last night, so not yet," he told the two men.

"Go non-traditional on the ring," Chris muttered.

"I know, she said she'd kick my ass if I brought her a big diamond," the younger man said.

"Her ring size is six point five," Chris said with a sigh. "Take Gaila... No take Nyota, she knows Jim's style more than the rest of us."

"Does this mean you aren't gonna have me killed?" Leonard asked his future father-in-law.

"You love her and she loves you. If I had you killed she'd hate me. Am I happy about this? No, not at the moment... maybe after I get used to the idea. Will I stand in your way? No. She's an adult and I know what it's like to love someone with everything you are and have to choose between your heart and your family. I would never make her choose." Chris paused. "Just be warned, I've buried a lot of bodies, one more won't bother me."

"Understood, sir," Leonard said just as Jim walked back into the condo. "You okay, darlin'."

"Well, you didn't kill each other, so that's good," she said as she sat on the arm of his chair. "Dad…" Chris put his hand up and Jim stopped talking.

"I love you, kiddo. I always have, I always will. I may never understand why you do some of the stuff you do but I do understand love, so I get it. Just don't get married next week, okay?" Chris asked.

"Okay," Jim said with a smile.

"Ladies, I found it," Leonard told Gaila and Nyota. He asked both women to go ring shopping with him and they jumped at the chance. Gaila kept trying to convince him to go big but Nyota would head her off with the very valid point that Jim would hate a big ring.

"What are we looking at?" Gaila asked with a smile. He pointed to this little diamond star. It was five stones that equaled half a carat, set in fourteen carat white gold. "It's small."

"It's not that small. Besides, it's pretty and very Jim, that's the important part," Nyota countered.

"She doesn't want a big ring, for the millionth time. This one reminds me of the earrings she was wearing when we met. They were these little stars and they sparkled in the sunlight. I remember looking at them when she drove," he said.

"The silver and diamond ones?" He nodded at Nyota's question. "I know those earrings, Spock gave them to her on her twenty-fifth birthday. She has a lot of star earrings but those are her favorite pair," Nyota said. "And you know that… I knew you were hiding a sap under all that hot southern charm."

"You keep that to yourself, Miss Uhura, I got a reputation to protect," he told the woman. She laughed just as the jeweler came over. To say the man was a little underwhelmed by his choice was an understatement but Leonard only had to make one person happy with this purchase and she wanted a small ring.

"I have a random question for you," Jim said when he sat next to her on the couch.

"I have an answer… I hope," he replied.

"It's about your apartment. Jo lives here and you practically live here too. I was thinking that maybe you'd want to live here instead of paying that outrageous rent," she said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

It was something that he'd been thinking about but he hadn't had the chance to bring it up. Part of him didn't want to rush her, which worked out spectacularly since they were now engaged, and the other part of him was worried that she'd say no to the idea of him moving in. Because Jo mainly lived with Jim, he had keys and security codes. When he switched to the day shift, instead of Jo spending her nights at his place, he stayed with his girls at Jim's.

"Is that okay with you? I mean, I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything," he muttered.

"You're kidding, right? You know that I wouldn't have brought it up if it made me uncomfortable. I like having you here. Both of you," Jim said. "I like having a reason to come home at night. I love waking up in your arms. I even like cooking for you guys, though there are only four things I can actually cook outside of breakfast food."

"I'll teach you some stuff, darlin'," he offered.

"Hmm, Bones and food… I don't know if I'd actually pay attention in that class," she sighed.

"Oh, Jim, I'm sure I could keep your attention," he whispered against her ear before pressing a kiss behind it. "I would love to live with you. I have one condition."

"Name it," she said.

"We split everything. I will not live off of you, I don't care how much you make," he told her.

"I would never expect you to be a kept man, Bonesy. It's a deal."

"Okay. Now…" he shifted and pulled Jim's legs across his lap, "I got something for you."

"Oooo, a present," Jim said.

"Sorta," he pulled the small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I know that it's not the biggest ring in the world…"

"I would hurt you if it was," she quipped as she opened the box. For a second, she didn't say anything. Then, she smiled and a tear rolled down her cheek, "It's perfect."

"I noticed that you have a thing for stars. When I saw it, I knew it belonged to you, darlin'." He took the ring out of the box and slid it onto Jim's left ring finger before pressing a soft kiss against her knuckles.

"Gaila must be having a fit," Jim declared.

"We went shoe shopping afterwards, It's all good," he told her.

Jim laughed, "Charming the besties… not bad, doctor."

"I have my moments, Miss Kirk."