Chapter 38: Moving On…

Moving slowly behind his wife, Jim Kirk wrapped his arms around her as he turned her away from the mirror where she had been standing with her head hung down. Without saying a word, she curled into his shoulder and sniffled. Kirk began to slowly rub her back, silently letting her know that everything would be okay. They stayed that way for several minutes.

Neither of them said anything.

Nor did they have to.

A few days after waking up from his coma, Kirk had recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital. Even though Callie had been discharged before him, she still stayed at the hospital and slept in a chair beside his bed, never once leaving her husband's side for more than a few minutes. This was much to the displeasure of both Kirk and Bones. She did not need to be putting herself into stressful situations. It was bad for her and for the baby. Her argument in return was that if they made her leave, then she would just be worrying – so they gave up trying to reason with her.

Now it had been a few days since Kirk had been discharged from Starfleet Medical and in those two days, a lot had transpired. The biggest of them all was that Khan had been put on trial and then sentenced to be put back into cryo-sleep. Neither he nor Callie attended the trial – Spock did instead. Yet neither of them were happy with that outcome. But as long as no one could ever free him, then it was ok.

But all that was in the past. And now there were more important things to worry. Kirk was now home and slowly gaining more and more of his strength back. Each day he could walk and stay up a bit longer without getting as tired as he had been the previous day. He was also relishing in the time that he was able to spend with his wife. Being able to wake up next to her each morning took on new meaning after the ordeal that they had just gone through.

And each morning, Kirk would notice different things about his wife that showed she was indeed pregnant. The way her body seemed to be a bit fuller, along with her breasts and face. There was even a glow about her that just would not fade. He even swore that she had a small baby bump forming.

"Not for a few more weeks," she had said with a smile on her face as he had gently ran his hands along the front of her nightshirt a few mornings ago.

"But its gonna be the cutest baby bump in the entire galaxy!" he had retorted.

Yet that had been a different day with a different mood.

The mood today was vastly different. And Jim knew it as he held his wife in his arms as she continued to gently weep.

For today was the funeral of her father.

The black umbrellas set against the dark, rainy sky only added to the sadness of the atmosphere that surrounded the day.

For today was a day of goodbyes.

The funeral for Admiral Pike had been put off for almost a month after his death. And a lot had happened in that month. Mostly it had been so that Kirk had enough time to recover from his injuries. Callie had insisted that her husband be present for the Admiral's funeral. Along with that request, came one more.

She and Chris had both agreed that their father's funeral was to be a private funeral. This was much to the displeasure of many of the higher ups in Starfleet. They had wanted to make it a state funeral with all the pomp and circumstance that came with the death of a high ranking Starfleet officer – but after being on the receiving end of the glare from both Callie and her brother, along with a recommendation from McCoy not to pressure Callie in her "fragile" situation with being pregnant, that was when Starfleet relented and gave into the request.

There were only a few members of the Enterprise crew that Callie wanted to attend the funeral – mainly those that she had grown close to: McCoy, Spock, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu and Scotty. Of course Kirk was by her side for the entire ordeal.

With the small group that had gathered in the dreary cemetery, Callie knew that this was what her father would have wanted – the senior crew of the ship that he had loved. The other thing that Callie was certain that her father would have wanted would to have been buried next to his beloved wife. And Callie made sure that happened.

As the Starfleet chaplain said the final prayer over the coffin of Admiral Pike, Callie lifted her head from her husband's shoulder to glance over at her brother, who held both Jaliyah and Madeline close to him. Chris forced a smile across his face to let his sister know that everything would be ok. But Callie knew better.

He was hurting just as much as she was.

Yet she was thankful that her brother was going to be by her side as well. Having both him and Kirk to help her through her grief was one of the only things that gave her any comfort. And while that was very little comfort to begin with, she was still heartbroken since her father would never be able to meet his second grandchild.

Callie gently placed a hand over her abdomen as a tear slipped down her cheek. Her father would never be able to give her son or daughter the hugs or kisses that any grandparent would subject their grandchildren to. Nor would he ever be able to celebrate birthdays or milestones with them, as she had been able to do with both her grandparents and great-grandparents.

It just wasn't fair.

Slowly the mourners turned away from the rain soaked grave and made their way from the graveyard. For the time being, they all had different things to do – the main one being the rebuilding of the Enterprise.

Finally one black umbrella was let standing alone in the rain, watching as the Admiral's coffin was lowered into the ground. A chill had set in, making the day feel worse.

"Come on," Kirk whispered as he held the black umbrella up with one hand, while holding Callie close to him with his other. Callie was still curled tight against the warmth of her husband's body. "Let's get you and the little one out of the cold.

Against his shoulder, Callie nodded.

As Kirk turned them away from the grave, Callie quickly turned back towards it one last time.

"Good bye daddy," she whispered with a tear rolling down her cheek before allowing Kirk to steer her out of the graveyard.

AN: I know, I know. I've been horrible at updating. And I am sorry for making this so short and gut wrenching. Please don't be angry! I promise that happy things are going to happen in the upcoming chapters! Thanks for reading!