Two slow hours later the comm station went off. Jim was on it in an instant. "Hello?"
"Captain Kirk, my name is Benji Johnson. I'm a clinical psychologist for the Washington County Child Protective Services office. I'd like to meet you and talk with you and your spouse at my office."
Jim nodded. "Sure. Shoot me the address." He scribbled down the information and tossed the pen down. "We're on our way." He shut off the comm station and motioned to Spock. "Mom, we're taking the truck again. We'll be back as soon as we can."
Jim programmed the GPS and they set off down the road back into town. Coming across the south side of the city and down through the county, Jim made no conversation. Spock stared out the window at the scenery and tried to remember that this was for the greater good. Finally they entered another small town and Jim pulled onto a side road. They parked in front of a large professional building and got out.
When they walked in the building, Jim approached the secretary. "Captain Kirk and Captain Spock to see Mr. Johnson." She paged the man and led them back to an office. When she opened the door Jim saw David sitting on the floor with the man he had seen in Sabrina's office.
"Daddy!" David hollered and jumped up to hug him. Jim held his hands away from the boy, looking uncertainly at the man on the floor.
"It's okay to hug him, Captain Kirk." Mr. Johnson explained. "Please, come in." They entered and he got up to shut the door behind them. "There is a very bright young man here who thinks the world of you two," he began.
"I told him everything, just like you told me to. I told him about staying with you in San Francisco and I also told him about when you come here. He thinks I made it up about Father speaking to the horses too." David shrugged. "But I know Vulcans, and he doesn't."
"Well, little boys have big imaginations," Mr. Johnson explained.
"I am capable of conversing with any sentient life form in a mind meld," Spock defended his stepson.
"Oh." Mr. Johnson nodded. "Okay. Well David here tells me that you, Captain Kirk, and your former significant other are having difficulties."
"There's no way of putting it gently," Jim replied. "We don't get along, and God knows I've tried but I don't think we're ever going to get to that point. We coexist as peacefully as we can, for David's sake."
"Is it true the child's mother objects to your …." The man paused painfully. "Lifestyle?" he tried.
"No, she doesn't like him because he's with another man," David piped up helpfully.
"She's actually told you that?" Jim exclaimed to his son.
"Not to my face. But I heard her talking to one of my teachers and she got mad because the teacher liked you and she said you were a …." David got up and whispered in his father's ear.
"She used those words?" Jim growled. David nodded. "Did you tell Mr. Johnson that?"
"It's Benji, and yes, David repeated the phrase to me in a whisper as well. He explains that he asked his little friend Bridget what it meant and she told him never say it out loud again."
Jim was trembling now in anger, and Spock put his hand on his knee. "Ashayam, would you like to step outside to collect your thoughts?" Jim nodded sharply once and got up and left. Spock looked at Benji calmly. "Could you do me the favor of repeating the phrase to me?"
Benji got up from his desk and whispered into Spock's ear. Spock jerked. "David still does not know the meaning of the phrase. It's up to you and your spouse as to whether you choose to tell him," Benji told him.
"It is a derogatory term for a man who is romantically involved with another man, and I would prefer you not use it again either," Spock told his stepson.
"Okay. Sorry, Father." David looked up as the door opened and Jim came back in. "Are you okay, Dad?"
Jim looked deflated and he nodded to his son. "Yeah, slugger, I'll be okay." He sat back down and David hopped up in his lap. "So what can we do for you, Benji?"
"Well, from what David's told me and from what little I've seen just now, you and Captain Spock obviously do an excellent job at co-parenting. I am slightly concerned about your career fields; David's told me of you spending all night at Starfleet Command helping them out, and I don't like the idea of both of you being called out to serve."
"That would not happen," Spock explained. "Our participation is not obligatory. Should the need arise, one of us can assist Starfleet Command while the other stays with David. The one time it has occurred that we were both called in I remained with David and Captain Kirk aided the Admiralty."
"Okay," Benji wrote a note on his padd. "And would you be agreeable to full-time parenting, should that be the judge's decision?"
"Yes," both men stated clearly.
"Well I really don't have that much more for you. We're going to send David home with you until the hearing tomorrow. Bring him to the courthouse in the morning, at ten. The hearing will be in the third floor courtroom. I presume you'll have council present?"
Jim nodded. "Thank you for your help."
"I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances. I've always been a fan of you both," Benji admitted. "David, you can go home now. Thank you for being such a big boy."
"You're welcome," David told the man, and then grabbed his dad's hand.
"Oh, and Captain Spock?" Benji called. Spock turned around. "Your stepson told me about your after-Christmas surprise to your spouse. That was beautiful."
"You saw us?" Spock questioned the child.
"From the stairs," David admitted.
Spock shook his head slowly. Jim laughed and hugged the boy. "You're a goofball, you know that?" Jim told his son. They walked out of the building and to the truck. When they were back on the road, David repeated practically verbatim the conversations he had had with Benji and Mr. Parker, and what their reactions were. Spock praised the boy for his honesty and assured him they were not angry with him.
When they pulled into the barnyard the sun was low on a cloudy horizon and the temperature was dropping fast. "It'll probably snow again tonight," Jim told the others as they hurried in the house.
"Baby boy!" Winona called. She rushed to David and hugged him. "Are you okay, sweetie?"
"I'm fine, Gramma," the boy said as he squirmed out of her grasp. "I'm hungry."
They ate and sat in the living room, each doing their own thing for the evening. Spock was working on a project again, and David and Jim were listening to their iPods. Winona read quietly.
The comm station went off at eight and Winona got up to answer it. What returned from her graceful "Hello?" was a blistering barrage of curses. Spock put his padd down slowly so as not to alert the other two in the room.
"Carol, your son could have heard you say that. I think you need to calm down and get yourself ready for tomorrow. Don't call here again." Winona hung up and looked in the living room. Spock raised his eyebrows and returned to his work. Winona sat down and returned to her book just as Jim pulled his earbuds out.
"I think it's bedtime for all good First Officers and sleepy captains," Jim announced.
Spock raised his head and fought a smile. "And if not all the captains are 'sleepy'?"
"I'm betting the captains are sleepy, and if they're not they won't mind going to bed anyway." He waved his son on up the stairs. "I'll come tuck you in in a second." Then he sent a quiet plea through the bond and Spock put his work aside and climbed the stairs with him. They both said good night to David and then went to their room.
Jim undressed quickly and climbed in the bed. Spock raised an eyebrow. "Are you certain you do not wish to wear some garment to bed?"
"Yep."
"What if David decides to enter our room again without receiving permission?" Spock posed.
"He won't. We had a talk," Jim assured his mate. He pulled the covers back on the bed. "Come on."
Spock took off his outer garments but kept his underwear on out of sheer stubbornness. He got in bed and lay on his side, allowing Jim to snuggle back into his arms. "Today was extremely traumatic for you," Spock observed quietly.
"Mmm. Yeah. But if I can save David from going through even a quarter of what I went through, it's all gonna be worth it in the end. You'd never believe what Carol called us," he stated.
"I am certain I would not," Spock told his husband, despite remembering exactly what was said. "I believe the operative word for this mission was 'sleepy'. Are you no longer 'sleepy'?"
Jim shook his head. "No, I'm sleepy. I'll be quiet. Good night, love. See you in the morning."
"Good night, ashayam."
A/N: That's all for tonight. Sleep well, my readers, sleep well. There's trouble ahead ...