'Why are you so cheery?"

Andrea looked over her shoulder to find Nyota coming up behind her, scowl across her face. She smiled brightly at the older woman, throwing her arm around her shoulders.

"Can't a girl be happy?" she asked. "I have a very sexy husband and I get to work with all my best friends!"

Nyota rolled her eyes, "At least you work with your husband all day long," she shook her head. "I don't know how much more of Jim's nonsense I can take!"

Andrea laughed, "Just ignore it, Ny!" she exclaimed, as they made their way into the mess hall. "Besides, you have Spock to stare at and going all moony-eyed over."

…..

"Yes Daddy," Andrea sighed, shifting in her chair. "I'm eating enough vegetables and taking enough vitamin boosters to keep my immune system in check."

"I just want to make sure you're taking care of yourself," Chris said. "Worrying is part of my job."

Andrea smiled, "I know," she nodded. "I rather hear it from you honestly. Leo's been driving me up the wall the last couple days, making sure I'm getting enough sleep and taking my breaks when they are scheduled."

Chris chuckled, "CMO's take their crew's health seriously. Can't have you administering vaccines if you're half asleep now, can we?" he asked.

"Grandpa! Your friend is here!" Joanna shouted from somewhere off camera.

Chris groaned, "That's probably Phil," he checked his watch and cursed. "I'm sorry, honey bee."

"It's alright!" she shrugged. "Can't have you spending all the free time on video-chat."

"I miss you."

This was the worst part of their video-chats, which occurred every few days. From the moment Chris appeared on the screen to the final seconds of their call, Andrea felt a sudden rush of emotions. He didn't look any different, as Leo would tell her, but she always felt that he was slipping away. To her, he did look older. There was more grey apparent in his hair and he looked tired. Though he had Joanna running around the house for the summer and the pile of work being handed down to him, she knew that there was something else.

"I miss you too, Daddy."

"Grandpaaaaaa!"

"Come on, Chrissie! It's gonna take an hour to get to the game!" Phil shouted.

Chris groaned, "I hate him."

Andrea snorted, "No you don't. Besides, he's your best friend."

"A pain in the ass sounds better," he corrected her, as he sat up. "We're taking Jo to a baseball game. Figured she could use some athletic culture that doesn't include listening to Uncle Jim's notorious bar brawls and how her father punched a few people in the face to protect him."

"Just make sure she doesn't get hit with a fly ball or whatever they call it," she shook her head. "Leo will KILL you both."

Chris nodded, "She'll be safe," he promised. "You should be in range tomorrow if you want to call again. Or I can call you back."

Andrea nodded, "That sounds good. I'll be here all day tomorrow since it's my only day off," she huffed. "Laundry day!"

"I guess married life is exciting for you," he noted, before pausing. "Hey, did you know? It's been almost six weeks since you guys left."

She held in the gasp, nodding quickly. "Wow. Six weeks,' she cleared her throat. "I'm surprised Jim hasn't killed us all yet."

"Give him another week," he shook his head. "It wont be long until he starts a fight with a foreign race."

Andrea snorted, "Point taken," she shook her head. "I better let you go before Uncle Phil and Jo come storming in. I'll call you tomorrow."

Chris smiled and nodded, "I'll talk to you then," he smiled at her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

She ended the call watching as the screen went black, ordering all the lights off. After a few minutes, Andrea quickly stood up and moved through the tiny apartment that belonged to her and Leo, and into their bedroom. The door closed behind her with a soft click and she quickly climbed into bed, pulling all the blankets up over her head.

….

Andrea was still under the blankets when Leo came home, several hours later. She heard the main door open and close, along with the thud of something falling onto the table and boots being dropped on the floor.

"Andy!"

A few seconds later, the bedroom door opened and she heard him order the lights on. Lying still, Andrea remained quiet as he padded across the room quietly. The bed dipped on his side, springs creaking as he moved across the mattress. Then, there was a bright light and cool air hitting her face.

"What are you doing under here? Are you crying?"

Andrea pushed his hand away, covering her face with the other. "Go away!" she groaned, trying to pull the blanket back over her head.

Leo grabbed the blanket and yanked it further away, "Are you sick? Did something happen at home? Andy!"

"What?" she snapped, looking up at him through bleary eyes.

"I'm asking you a question!" he exclaimed. "I'd like to know what's making you cry and hidin' up in bed like this."

Andrea sighed, "I'm tired."

Leo made a face, "Bullshit," he watched as she scoffed. "You don't cry when you're tired."

She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing that she had fallen asleep before he returned home.

"Come on," he took her hand into his. "What's going on, Andy?" he asked softer this time.

"I miss home," she shrugged. "I miss Joanna," she opened her eyes. "And I miss my Dad."

When Leo gave her an understanding look, she burst into tears. Quickly, Andrea covered her face with her free hand, turning her head into the pillow to hide from him.

"Oh baby," he said softly, leaning closer to pull her up. "Don't cry," he rubbed her back as she clung to him.

"I wanna go home," she wailed pitifully. "I don't want to be here anymore."

"We can't go home, Andy. We're too far away," he said, which only made her cry harder.

"I don't care! Just let me go home," she sobbed, leaving her husband utterly confused and at a loss of what to do.

"Okay," he finally said, nodding. "We'll go home."

…

Once the crying wore her out, Leo tucked her back into bed and went to call Jim. When the young Captain came into their quarters, he took a seat at the small kitchen table across from his friend.

"I don't know what happened! I came home from my shift and she was hiding under the blankets!" Leo shook his head, as Jim listened. "First she said that she was tired but I knew she was lying so I told her to tell me the truth."

"Did you two get into a fight earlier?" Jim asked.

Leo shook his head, "No. Her shift ended shortly after lunch and she came into my office with a sandwich, told me to eat and that she would see me later," he shrugged. "She was smilin' and all peppy."

Jim nodded, "Maybe something happened at home?"

Leo shook his head, "If anything happened at home she would've paged me," he sighed. "Do you think something happened with one of the girls? A fight with Nyota? Or maybe Chapel said something to her to upset her."

"If Nyota was pissed at her, the entire bridge would know and Spock would've told me," Jim pointed out. "And if it was Chapel," he shook his head. "Your wife would've been dragged off this ship in shackles and court martialed for murder."

"I don't know what else to think of," he sighed, sitting back in the chair. "Do you think she really means it? That she wants to go home?" he asked

Jim shrugged, "I don't know, Bones. It's been six weeks and she's been fine as far as I can tell."

Leo nodded, "She never mentioned anything about wanting to go home or being homesick before."

"Maybe you should call Chris? See if he can help you figure out what to do," Jim glanced at the time. "It should be a little after midnight there."

He nodded, "I'll call him now. You wanna stay?" he asked, as Jim stood up.

"As much as I would love to see the handsome face of Admiral Pike," he grinned. "I'm gonna go grab something unhealthy, stuff my face and pass out in my bed."

Leo rolled his eyes, "At least have something healthy will ya? I can't have you getting fat."

Jim snorted, "I'll try, Bones," he moved to the door. "Say hello to Pike and give Andy a hug for me."

….

Ten minutes later, one check up on Andrea and a glass of bourbon at his side, Leo dialed the familiar network number for the Pike household.

"This better be go- Oh. Leo?" Chris squinted at the screen, before realizing that it was in fact his son-in-law calling. "What's wrong? Is Andrea all right? Are you all right?"

Leo held up his hand, "I'm fine, Chris. Andrea? Not really."

Chris was alert now, "What happened?"

"I don't know exactly," making the older man curse.

"Dammit McCoy! You better tell me what's going on!" he exclaimed.

Leo shook his head, "She wants to come home, Chris. I came home and found her hiding under our bedding with obvious signs that she'd been crying," he said.

When Chris didn't reply right away, Leo continued. "When she finally told me what was wrong, bursting into tears, I figured I'd call you."

Chris sighed, "What did she say?" he asked.

"That she wanted to go home and that she didn't want to be here anymore," he answered, watching as the older man registered the fact that his daughter was upset. "Chris, I don't know what to do. I had to stop her from callin' Scotty to prepare the transporter to beam her outside of the Academy!"

"Shit," Chris muttered, rubbing a hand across his tired face. "I think I know what's wrong."

Leo waited for him to continue, "She called earlier to check in and see how Jo and I were doing," he sighed. "I said something about it being six weeks since you all left and I knew the moment I said it.. it set something off. I could tell by the look on her face."

Chris shook his head, "She was probably doing so good up there and my big mouth just fucked it up."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Chris," Leo said. "It would've hit her with our without you saying a thing. That's how she is."

"I know," he shook his head. "But still. I told her that she would be fine up there after a week or two and then I had to open my mouth and say something about how long she'd been gone."

"Chris she would've realized it sooner or later," Leo pressed. "We do have calendars up here."

Chris groaned, "Would it be too much to ask for you to take them all down?"

Leo shook his head, "I could take them down in our quarters, but they need to stay up everywhere else."

"I figured," the Admiral sighed. "I'll talk to her tomorrow and see if I can do some damage control. I'm so sorry, Leo."

"Like I said," he shrugged. "It would've happened sooner or later."

Chris nodded, "I know," he looked over his shoulder. "Sorry, we got home a half an hour ago from a baseball game."

Leo smiled, "Sounds like you two are havin' fun."

"We are," he smiled. "Jo plans on calling you in the morning from the office. She has a lot to tell you."

"Well, I'll let you go so you can get some sleep," he looked at the time on the screen. "I better get going too, if she plans on callin' in the mornin'."

Chris nodded, "If she still feels the same when you wake up, call me right away. I wasn't planning on telling you, but I'm going to be on a star base around the time of her birthday. I'm planning on surprising her."

Leo smiled, "She will love that, Chris."

"Just don't tell her! Or Jim. I don't plan on telling him about it until it's time to beam aboard."

He laughed, "I promise" he nodded. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Night, Son."

Leo smiled briefly, "Night, Pop."