Disclaimer: Only Callie is mine – everything else belongs to their rightful owners =(

Chapter 25: Happiness and Goodbyes

"You may now kiss your bride," the justice of the peace said.

Without hesitation, Spock pulled Uhura close to him and gently kissed her lips before wrapping her in his arms and holding her close to him. Behind them both, there were sniffles.

The newly minted bride and groom turned to look at who was crying.

"Weddings make me cry!" Callie said as she leaned against Kirk's shoulder. She sniffled again and wiped her teary eyes with the back of her hand. He wrapped an arm around her and gently kissed the top of her head.

It had been an interesting evening. Shortly after Kirk finished his conversation with the Admiral about asking for Callie's hand in marriage, Callie had come looking for him. She had received a call from Uhura asking that she and Kirk meet her and Spock quickly at City Hall for something, since it wasn't too late into the evening. She had been vague on what she had told Callie, but there was no fooling the intelligence officer. Callie was pretty certain that Spock and Uhura were going to get married and that she and Kirk were going to be the witnesses.

"Now we all need to have a celebratory drink!" Kirk said as the group left city hall. "Just one quick drink, I promise. On me."

He received a quick jab to the ribs from Callie's elbow. "Let them enjoy tonight alone," she hissed. "Drinks on the Enterprise later."

Both Spock and Uhura blushed slightly at Callie's comment. "Never mind the drinks, we'll celebrate back on the Enterprise." Kirk said.

The two group parted ways. Callie and Kirk caught a transport back across the city to the area near the Admiral's house. Since it still wasn't too late at night, Kirk wasn't ready to head back to the house just yet. He still wanted to spend a little bit of alone time with Callie.

"Hey, it's not too late. Want to go for a walk before we head back to your dad's house?" he suggested.

"Sure."

He took ahold of her hand as they walked down the street towards an area of beach, where they had sat only a few months ago. The sun had almost completely set and a full moon was rising out over the ocean. It was the perfect scene. They stood there for a moment in silence.

"You know I did talk you your father today." Kirk said wrapping his arms around her.

"Figured. So what did he say?"

"He wasn't surprised at all. In fact, he was surprised that I hadn't convinced you to run off and get married in the first place."

Callie laughed at that comment. She actually could see her father saying that.

"But he did give me his permission."

"See I told you that he would."

Kirk turned Callie around to face him, as he slowly got down on one knee in the dimming light. "So Callista Elizabeth Montgomery-Pike will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

As he asked her, Kirk took and engagement ring out of his pocket and slipped it onto her finger. It was an emerald cut diamond flanked by two smaller stones set into white gold. Callie tearfully nodded yes. Kirk stood back up, swept her into his arms and kissed her deeply on the lips.

When he set her back down, she looked at the ring he had gotten for her. It was gorgeous. "How did you have time to get this?"

"I called mom shortly after I asked you the first time. I described the ring that I wanted to her and had her go pick up it up for me. She met me this morning, when all the members of the U.S.S. Marvel were being reunited with their families. She's in town for Admiral Archer's funeral. That was when she gave me your ring."

Callie, still smiling, kissed his lips once again. "I love you," she whispered against his lips.

"I love you too," he answered back as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. For a few brief moments, nothing else mattered to Jim Kirk – nothing else but the woman that he held in his arms.

Ensign Rachel Sewell sat with the rest of the Enterprise crew during the state funeral for Admiral Jonathan Archer. Even though they were seated by rank, she still had a good line of sight of Captain Kirk. Yet the odd thing was – where was Lt. Commander Montgomery? She was not seated with the rest of the senior crew and she would not dare miss something like this. The ensign knew that the previous mission was a rescue mission for both her and Commander Spock, but both of them had recovered from their injuries.

So the question was where was she?

Next to her, one of her fellow ensigns nudged her. "Look," the ensign hissed and pointed as the honor guard entered, accompanying the casket. The Lt. Commander was one of the honor guards walking along side of the casket of the beloved Admiral Archer.

"What the…" Sewell mouthed as she reached for her mini datapad that she brought with her and pulled up the funeral information. She quickly skimmed through all the information until she got to the part about the honor guard, who were all either former members of the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise or descendants of the crew. Sewell read the she was the great-granddaughter of Malcolm Reed, who had served on the maiden 10 year voyage of the NX-01 Enterprise. And not only that, but the Lt. Commander's last name wasn't just Montgomery. It was really Montgomery-Pike. She was the daughter of Admiral Christopher Pike.

"Fuck!"

Spock's head spun around and glared at the ensign, who immediately slipped down in her seat. Sewell had picked the wrong person to get a crush on and the wrong girlfriend of said crush to mess with.

"We're going to stay here for a while," Chris said hugging his sister tightly as one of the last transports readied itself to leave Starfleet Headquarters for Starbase 1.

"Good," Callie said. "You and dad both deserve it."

"What about you?" he asked. "Don't you have some huge wedding to plan since you are marrying the Captain of the main ship of the fleet and you are an Admiral's daughter."

"Oh trust me. I have all that taken care of. I'm simply picking out my dress and letting Jim's mother handle the rest. She and dad can take care of it all. I have a job to do."

"You know that she will drive dad insane. I'll have Jaliyah help some."

"Just no weird customs from Galena. Keep it Earth style." Callie said with a wink before walking away from her brother. He couldn't help but shake his head. It was good to be home.

AN: Next chapter: The wedding!