AN:It's been a fantastic ride writing this story but all good things must come to an end. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed and stuck with this story. It was so much fun to write! I hope everyone likes the ending and please let me know because it'll make it so much sweeter for me.

Tishbing

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Six Months Later

Leonard McCoy trembled as he made his way back and forth across the small room on shaky legs. He thought he was going to throw up again. What had he been thinking? Going through this a second time was insanity. The first time had been an epic failure and now he was risking everything to do it again. Someone once told him that a true sign of insanity was doing the same task over and over again and expecting a different result. Maybe he was insane.

"Bones! You look great!"

A slap to his back made the bile rise to the back of his throat and he turned to glare at his friend who promptly took on an appropriate look of fear. Kirk raised his hands and backed away knowing that his bugging McCoy was like poking a bear with a sharp stick.

"Actually, you look like shit. Lucky for you, Chapel gave me this." Kirk pulled out a small, silver hypospray and held it to the light so that he could see it's contents.

McCoy nearly cried out in relief. Trust Chapel to always know what he needed. He grabbed the anti-nausea medication and promptly stabbed himself in the neck with it, ignoring Jim's infantile wincing. He still never understood why Jim acted like a baby with hypos but it did make it entertaining for him when McCoy had to administer vaccines.

It was a few more minutes before he felt his nausea subside to tolerable levels but when it did he let out a deep sigh. Kirk looked at his watch and then up at Bones.

"It's time." He said.

McCoy swallowed and walked out behind his best friend, his feet feeling like he had lead in the soles and he wondered if she was going to show up. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't. He was much too old and way too grouchy for her to actually go through with it and marry him.

Liz pressed her lips into a thin line to avoid her own throwing up. She was nervous and could see spots dancing in front of her eyes. She watched Uhura jiggling a bouncing chubby, brown-haired, green-eyed baby girl on her knee and smiling at the giggles elicited from the child. Joanna was a happy baby and the past six months had been wonderful with Leonard on Earth but his leave was almost up and since the Enterprise was in the vicinity they'd decided to do the ceremony to tie in with the crew's own shore leave.

Uhura, Spock and Jim had volunteered to watch the baby so they could have a proper honeymoon. Originally, it had just been Jim but McCoy had adamantly refused until he had enlisted Uhura and Spock's assistance. The nursing staff and senior staff from the Enterprise had banded together and bought their tickets to Hawaii as a mix of presents. Going away for Liz, since you can't have a baby on a starship, wedding present for the two of them, getting a break from the baby present and finally...a present to have Leonard come back to the ship in a slightly less foul mood since he'd be stuck leaving them behind. His only consolation is that her and Joanna will be safe on Earth.

She felt a tug on her hair and Christine Chapel stood back to admire her work with an excited smile. Liz was curious. Nurse Baker had covered the mirrors while they had helped her dress and do her hair and make-up. It was the big reveal. She looked at Uhura who had stopped bouncing Jo and was watching her with a far away expression on her face, her mouth opened in a silent o. Liz sincerely hoped that was a good sign.

Jenni Baker pulled the blanket off the mirror with a flourish and Liz's hands went to her mouth in shock. Her hair was loosely pinned away from her face and flowing down her back with little periwinkle flowers throughout her curls. Her face had only a hint of make-up on it making her green eyes appear more vivid and her lips were a rosy pink that looked like a pout. Her eyes travelled to her dress. It was a sleeveless white bodice that fanned out from her waist to the floor, a light blue ribbon around the middle that trailed down the back of her dress accented her thin waist. She gave a small twirl, very much feeling like a princess and upon seeing herself she felt her nerves calm. She looked at her left hand and saw the beautiful ring that Leonard had given her. It was a simple diamond solitaire in a platinum setting. The band was unusual. It looked like two rings swirling together to create one stronger piece. In a way, it was like them. Together, they were stronger.

"Alright, Liz. The usuals. Something old?" Christine eyed her while Liz held up her hand showing the engagement ring. It had been in Leonard's family for some time.

"Something new?"

Uhura held up Joanna and laughed. "I think she's pretty new." Christine smiled wider.

"Something borrowed?"

Liz frowned in thought but Chris quickly pulled off her own necklace, a small diamond pendant on a white gold chain and placed it around Liz's neck. Satisfied that it looked good, she stepped back.

"And you've got something blue so we're set." She looked at her watch and jumped. "Oh! It's time!"

She felt the butterflies in her belly as Christine handed her her flowers and took up her position in front of her, her own blue gown swaying. Liz heard the sound of the band starting up and she felt like she was having an out of body experience, a serene calm settling over her as the wedding march started to play. She gripped the tiny bundle of flowers and followed into the small chapel.

She saw the entire chapel was filled with the crew of the Enterprise, even Scotty and Keenser were in the rows. Although, he was wearing a kilt that was garnering quite a few looks from the ladies at his legs.

She walked down the aisle, keenly aware that everyone was standing and watching her but her eyes immediately found the front. Jim and Spock were standing next to him in their own tuxedoes but Leonard seemed apart from them. His brown eyes were bright with excitement and so full of love that it took her breath away. He was smiling so big that it made him look like a teenager. His black tux was a perfect fit that showed off all the hours he'd been spending outside on his family plot in Georgia tending to their garden and to the peach grove that had been neglected the past several years since he'd joined Starfleet.

He was so handsome that for a moment Liz wasn't sure he was the same man. She'd never seen him like that and it made him leaving them in two weeks that much harder. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop the tears threatening to well up. She had him now and he'd always come back to her and Jo. That's all that mattered.

Leonard McCoy was fidgeting in his suit. He felt like a monkey in the thing and probably looked just as ridiculous. Jim and Spock stood next to him as they waited for the band to tune their instruments.

"You got the rings, Jim?" He whispered out the side of his mouth.

"Oh, Shit!"

McCoy whirled around. "What!?" He growled.

Jim just laughed. "Yanking your chain, Bones. I've got them right here."

He patted his breast pocket with a smile and McCoy tried to relax but it was getting harder. He started nervously patting his leg when Spock leaned forward.

"Doctor. Perhaps you need an anxiolytic?"

McCoy immediately stopped tapping and scowled at the vulcan.

"No, Spock. I do not need that. I'm nervous. Not everyone can be as calm and collected as you were on your..." He snapped his fingers and a mock look of dawning understanding crept across his features. "...oh, wait...you were in heat on your wedding day so a few nerves is not that big of a deal."

Spock's ears turned a bright green and he turned away. "Agreed, doctor. Perhaps it is the male of every species that has a severe reaction to their wedding day."

Jim snorted but immediately straightened when the music started Mendelssohn's Wedding March. The creak and groan of the pews in the chapel was deafening as everyone took to their feet and turned to face the large wooden doors.

McCoy turned to face the doors when his breath caught in his chest at he sight. She looked like she was glowing, the sun shining off of her hair causing sparkles and gems of light to reflect off the strands almost like a halo. The long white gown only added to the effect of an angel and he was transfixed by her beauty. He knew his mouth was hanging open. He didn't need the nudge from Jim behind him to snap his mouth shut with a click.

Elizabeth stood in front of him looking completely composed. He wondered how she did that. She had on a smile that lit up the room and was calm whereas he could feel his heart threatening to burst out of his chest. His friend, Jim, stepped forward and in between them.

"Since the days of old wooden vessels, all shipboard captains have had one happy privilege. That of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony. We are gathered here today to join two people whom the bonds of love have withstood many trials and tribulations, that only strengthened through the many difficulties endured through their service to the fleet. That survived the separation of time and space. Their love only grew stronger as time went on and as they discovered more about each other. It grew more powerful even against impossible odds."

Jim smiled at each of them in turn.

"Some would say that Leonard McCoy found his true love while others would say that Elizabeth Parker found hers. Either way, they found each other and held tight."

Kirk turned to Liz and McCoy tensed.

"Elizabeth Parker. Do you take this man, Leonard Horatio McCoy, as your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold? In sickness and in health? For richer, for poorer? As long as you both shall live, until death do you part?"

His mouth went dry as she turned her head to him and smiled. It seemed like time stopped as he watched her mouth form the words.

"I do."

Jim faced him.

"Do you, Leonard Horatio McCoy, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold? In sickness and in health? For richer, for poorer? As long as you both shall live, until death do you part?"

He could feel his cheeks becoming sore as he grinned at the woman he loved.

"I do."

Jim reached into his pocket and handed each of them a ring. His fingers were numb as he took Liz's left hand and placed the band on her delicate finger. His throat was parched as he spoke the words he'd prepared.

"I give you this ring, Elizabeth Parker, as a reminder that I will love, honor and cherish you. In all times, in all places and in all ways, forever."

Once he finished, he could see tears in her eyes but he knew that they were happy. He wasn't one for public displays of affection and she knew it but right then he was showing the world how much he truly loved her.

She took his hand and that was when he felt her shaking, too. She carefully placed his ring on him.

"I give you this ring, Leonard McCoy, as a reminder that I will love, honor and cherish you. In all times, in all places and in all ways, forever."

Kirk stood straighter.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Leonard leaned forward at the same time as Liz, the air becoming still and silent as they pressed their lips together. An almost chaste kiss before they pulled apart to the sound of clapping and cheers. At this moment, looking around and seeing his friends and his daughter with the woman that was now his wife standing next to him...he was the happiest man on Earth.

"Bones...I have a confession to make."

McCoy tore his eyes away from where Liz was on the dance floor with Chekov. The kid was bright red from the moment Liz showed his where to put his hands and McCoy was wondering if he was going to have to medically intervene when his best friend sat next to him at their table.

"Jim...I'm a doctor, not a priest and if it has to do with those two Caitian strippers you forced on me when you kidnapped me for a bachelor party last night, I really don't want to know." He watched Jim shake his head and he raised an eyebrow in surprise when Jim became more serious and slid a PADD across the table to him.

"What's this?" He asked.

McCoy picked up the PADD and started to read.

"It's mine and Spock's wedding present to you. It took us the past five months to get the admiralty to agree to it and we had to call in favors from everywhere but it finally got approved. The Enterprise is being retrofitted as we speak to be a generational ship. It's an experiment to try and boost enlistment and morale in the fleet."

He didn't know what to say but his mind slowly started to catch up.

"But Liz resigned her commission to stay on Earth with Jo."

Kirk looked a little surprised.

"She resigned her commission because she would have had to leave behind Jo. Right?"

At McCoy's nod, he continued.

"Well, now she doesn't have to. I have standing orders for her to be a part of the Enterprise with you and you'll be assigned family quarters. There will be childcare facilities, teachers and special protocols in place to keep everyone safe."

McCoy pondered the choice. Now that he had one. He looked away from Jim to Uhura and Spock holding and playing with Joanna. They would be wanting their own child soon and like him, they probably wouldn't want to miss out on a moment of that child growing up. He moved his head to watch Liz twirling and smiling, her cheeks rosy from dancing, now with Sulu. Her radiant smile made something in his heart clench. Was it selfish to want her and Joanna with him? It's not like Earth was much safer. It had nearly gone the same way as Vulcan not too long ago.

At least this way he could keep an eye on all of the people important to him. He wouldn't miss JoJo's first steps, her first words, her first anything. He'd be there to put her to bed at night and Liz would be there with him. Right by his side.

"Alright, Jim. When do we go?"

The End