Bones slid the door open, stepped inside, and felt his heart stop a little when he saw Joanna sitting cozily on Christine's lap while they chatted up Chekov and Sulu, her arms around Christine's shoulders while Christine held her around the middle in a loose hug. He knew this to be a thing his daughter did with her friends to show their female sisterly bonds of affection, but seeing it done with Christine was a whole new level of family intimacy Bones hadn't anticipated. It was the same feeling of wholeness he'd felt at dinner the night before, where he felt that fleeting moment of shimmering silver perfection that this was what his life was supposed to be.

Crossing the room, he touched his hand to Christine and Joanna's shoulders and gave them each a kiss on top of the head. 'There were rumours of cake on the balcony.'

'There's cake?'

Joanna rolled her eyes at the question, swatted Christine lightly. 'Are you drunk? It's a birthday party, of course their is cake! And while we have cake, you get to open your gifts! Including Dad's, unless it's for grown-ups only, in which case, ew keep it to yourselves.'

'The cake was mine and Scotty's job,' Sulu said proudly, then shot Bones a semi-dirty look as he added, 'we'd kinda hoped you'd come with us to the diner yesterday so you'd tell us which one Christine would like best.'

'Why didn't you say so?'

'We didn't wanna spoil anything. The captain was adamant both of you be surprised. Shall I go fetch Scotty?'

But the inquiry was pointless as the lights dimmed and the chorus of the centuries old birthday song filled the room; Joanna slid off Christine's lap, camera at the ready to take video of the birthday girl getting her cake. And what a cake it was, Christine thought on a laugh. The slab of pastry was decorated with small fondant figures posed in a beach scene, but upon closer look the figures were actually the entire cast of characters present at the party. Scotty and Sulu were engaged in a vicious battle of beach volleyball against Chekov and Sayuri while Uhura, Joanna and Kate were parasailing on buttercream waves. On the far end of the toasted coconut beach, Kirk was building a sand-castle while rules-loving Spock sat in the lifeguard's tower, and there in the surf were Christine and Bones were playing with dolphins. Each person's swim-wear matched the colour of their Starfleet department, and the candy skin tone was a near spot on match; Christine could even see the small dimpled-cleft of Bones' chin, along with the line between his eyebrows, as though he were figuring out what to do with the dolphin.

'Make a wish, lassie!' Scottie told her, 'but dinnae share it, else it has no chance o' comin' true!'

Christine looked around at the happy faces, felt Bones' hands on her shoulders and gave a little sigh. Patrick, I wish you were here to see this, she thought, and blew out the all the candles in a single go to the cheers of everyone. Someone passed her a knife to cut slice, and she made sure each guest got their own fondant figurine with their square; the cake turned out to be a light and fluffy shortcake with a key-lime custard filling that made the Floridian heart in Christine's chest flutter happily. Chekov even had some spiked margarita milkshakes whipped up in his blender in lieu of ice cream, with soft ones for the two minors.

Even better was despite the fact she was amongst her friends and co-workers, when she saw Bones licking his spoon and it made her thing of the delights that tongue had worked on her body. It made Christine's mind wander to that x-rated place where they were alone together wearing nothing but bedsheets and smile, and Bones was drizzling melted strawberry ice cream down her thigh, then licking it up until he reached her-

'Chris?'

'Yeah?'

'You still eating your cake?'

Christine glanced over, saw Uhura's barely smothered smile as she pointed at the plate that was tilting at a dangerous angle from her friend's hand. 'Oops.'

'It's okay, I know you've got things on your mind.'

'If you can still sink, zen it is time for von of zees.' Chekov appeared like a magician, brandishing refilled margarita glasses with the frosty treats. 'Al-zo, I sink I heard ze girls mention it is time for gifts.'

'Oh, no, you guys, this is already so much more than I could-'

'Christine, ve vonted to do zis for you, ze gifts ver my ideas,' Chekov told her, then sent Joanna a friendly smile as she came over with arms ladened parcels. 'Vould you like some help, solnishko?'

'Sure.'

By the time the boxes were arranged into a neat stack at the birthday girl's feet, Bones had come over to perch himself on the armrest of the chair she occupied while the rest of the party-goers gathered around. He brushed his hand over her back, grinned himself when he felt her hand touch his thigh; it was such a small gesture but it managed to send his libido straight into fourth gear even as Kate passed Christine the first gift to open.

'Open this one first,' she said, 'Jo and I pooled some cash to get you this one.'

Christine slid the ribbon off the gold and green box, lifted the lid to find a pair of stud earrings fashioned in the shape of shamrocks made of green crystal. She looked up to see Joanna's gleeful expression and shook her head. 'Couldn't resist, could you?'

'Really, really couldn't,' she agreed, bouncing over to give Christine a quick squeezing embrace before passing her another gift wrapped with sparkling yellow and orange striped recycled-paper. 'Here, I think this one is from Mister Sulu.'

It made Christine feel a little childish, ripping through the paper of the various presents and saying so many thank-yous the word started to lose its meaning for her. But as she saw the tokens of friendship they'd given her - amongst them, a pot of New Vulcan pumice from Spock, a mini bar kit from Chekov, and a disc of classical music from Scotty - she realized that those demons that had plagued her while she tried to sort out her feelings for Bones had largely been in her head. This group of people had flown blind to put together a birthday party for her and their gifts were as personal to her as if she'd given them a notarized list.

They'd done so much for her that her heart felt near to bursting with gratitude, but it was the handsome man with the not-so-permanent scowl on his face bringing over the oddly wrapped package that pushed it into a new stratosphere of emotion.

'Think you win the prize for the most original wrapping,' Kirk commented drily as he looked at the lopsided green package with the sweetly curled purple ribbon. 'Definitely looks like your handiwork.'

'Oh, shush,' Christine scoffed, running her finger along the seam to pop the adhesive tabs. She sucked in a sharp breath as the aroma hit her first - she'd know that smell anywhere - then let it out in a short squeal of joy as she shredded through the delicate horticulture foil. 'Oh, Leonard, wow! Oh wow, oh wow! Oh, it's perfect! It's just perfect!'

She feathered her fingers over the leaves, leaning forward to inhale the fragrance of the blossoms that would turn into fruit with the right care and cultivation; for a fleeting moment she was sad they weren't aboard the ship so she could run right off and put her new toy into the greenhouse. Around her, the rest of the crew was slightly baffled - they knew Christine loved gardening and that she loved collecting up plants for the greenhouse; clearly, though, this one had a particular significance to her.

'Uh, Christine? What's that one so special for?' Sulu inquired.

'It's a blueberry bush!' Christine all but sang it. 'It- well, suffice to say it's a very special thing to me.'

'First time I made her breakfast was blueberry pancakes, and when I found out there were no blueberry plants in her greenhouse, I figured it'd be a good surprise,' Bones explained, and they nodded in understanding.

'A good surprise is an extra slice of cake for free in the mess hall. This…' She turned to Bones, eyes glittering. 'This is exactly what I didn't know I wanted.'

She tugged the front of his shirt to pull him in for a steaming kiss that had a few whistles of appreciation going up from the small group, punctuated with Joanna's, 'ew Dad, quit it!' that made them all laugh.

'Thank you,' she murmured against his lips, felt him kiss her back once more.

'You can finish thanking me once everyone's gone,' he murmured, 'or since it's your birthday I'll thank you.'

Christine's happiness carried her through to the final gift, this one a solo offering from Joanna herself, which turned out to be a framed holo-snapshot of herself, Christine and Bones at the restaurant just the night before. With a promise to put it on her work station aboard the Enterprise, Joanna and Kate stood up and informed the group that they were due back for their curfew, and as Kate was a Cygnusian every single officer present knew she'd be allowed to stay not a minute longer. After a round of hugs and Chekov and Sayuri promising to return the girls safely to their quarters, the two teenagers left which made the bubbles of anticipation begin to churn in both Christine and Bones. If it was the hour that guests were starting to leave, that would mean in short order, they would have the apartment to themselves.

It took nearly another hour, but slowly but surely the rest of the party crowd thinned, with only Spock Uhura and Kirk left at the end. The group of five friends sat in the living room, studying the wreckage which wasn't too terribly much despite what had seemed an endless stream of drinks, food and gifts to Christine. She sat beside Bones, his arm around her waist with her fingers playing over his as he listened to Spock's observations of the evening.

'I must say, Captain Kirk, you might be remiss in not listing social event co-ordination as one of your credentials,' he told him as he took a sip of his favoured Jack Daniels. 'Perhaps it is time to update your profile in the Star-Fleet databases.'

'Is he screwing with me?' Kirk muttered to Uhura, making them all laugh.

'No, I think he's just impressed how fast this all came together,' she replied as she polished off the last of her Klaavian sun-tea; her response made Bones sit up a little straight with his beady-eyed stare fixed on the communications officer.

'How did you get it to come together? Not just the staff meeting, but getting into my cousin's apartment to plan it all?'

'Your cousin's in Star-Fleet, right?' Kirk shrugged. 'Why do you think I was letting an official command meeting interrupt my hard-earned shore leave? Had to figure out a way to get into the place today without tipping you guys off, now didn't I?'

'Clever bastard,' Bones muttered, felt his insides glow warm when Uhura patted Spock's knee. 'You heading out?'

'Yep, time for us to hit the hay.' Uhura rose, gave Christine a hug, whispering as she did so, 'I left a little something for you in your toiletries kit.'

'Thanks, Nina.'

Uhura kissed her friend's cheek, ushered Spock out the door as he inquired why they would find wheat sheafs waiting for them in their temporary quarters instead of beds which made the remaining three people laugh.

'How she puts up with him, I'll never know,' Bones commented.

'Because…' Christine trailed off, gulped a hasty mouthful of her drink. She'd been about to say because the sex is great but thought the better of it. 'Because they're surprisingly good for each other. She's an open giving spirit and he's someone who likes the rules, they balance each other well.'

'Same with you guys,' Kirk pointed out, then pressed his palms to his thighs to help his balance as he rose, Christine and Bones doing the same. 'I'll be off too, I am looking forward to a chance to actually stay in bed longer than oh-six-hundred.'

'I know the feeling,' Bones said drily, pulling Christine just a little tighter; the move made Kirk's lips quirk in a barely-hidden smile.

'Happy birthday, Christine.'

Kirk gave her a little hug, and because he knew it would put just a little fire back in Bones' eyes after the rather mushy conversation they'd had on the balcony, gave her a smooch on the temple with a loud smacking noise. He slapped Bones once on the shoulder, then headed out and set the lock behind him.