AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Number one, I have to say that I am finally a Kirk fan.

I totally never appreciated him when I was little, but I love that beautiful whore.

That being said, this chapter is pretty much some fluff and realizations, and you guys want to know what's in the bag, don't you?

Hope you enjoy it.

Also, I'm very sorry I didn't update yesterday or the day before.

The day before I got a really bad headache and then yesterday I tried to focus on updating all of my other stories.

I'm hoping to update two today, though, so cross your fingers.

****

Devon's POV

I hadn't expected Kirk to show up in Lily's quarters again at all—in fact I had thought that running here would be the only place I could go to be safe from Kirk. I had just completely embarrassed myself in front of the captain and I was in complete emotional turmoil and I hated it. I was not the kind of person that enjoyed at all having to admit that I actual had emotions. I mean sure I smiled and I made jokes but I hated being vulnerable and that was how I was feeling right then. Lily knew more about emotions than anyone—she was half Betazoid—so she was my only hope right now.

"Would you like to wander the corridors or go to your quarters?" Lily asked me. "I can tell you really don't want to talk about all of this with all of these people around."

I smiled at her. "We can go to my quarters—thank you for understanding."

"No problem." Lily said, waving it off. "I've got all the time in the world—at least that's how it feels lately.

I couldn't help but smile a little when she had said that—she hadn't been resentful about it at all. She was aware that she'd entered into this whole baby situation all on her own and she needed to own up to it. Lily was genuinely happy that she was going to be a mother in four months, and I was thankful that even with the baby shower going on, she was willing to help me. Oh my God, the baby shower! How could I possibly be so thoughtless as to take her away from her own baby shower?! This was the time she was supposed to be spending with her friends to celebrate that she was going to be a mother!

"What's with the feelings of guilt?" Lily asked me, resting her hand on my shoulder. "Do you feel guilty about the kiss with Jimmy?"

I turned to look at her. "You know about that?"

Lily nodded. "I'm the ship's counselor—everybody comes to talk to me about things."

"Fantastic! First I feel guilty that I had to ruin your baby shower to talk to you about something stupid, and then I feel even guiltier for making him run to you!" I exclaimed as the lift doors closed.

How could I possibly have been so blind as to think that Kirk actually enjoyed that kiss? I mean sure he had responded, and he'd touched with those God made hands…but then I ran off. Maybe he thought he was really bad at it. Ha! Yeah right, like that was it! James T. Kirk was completely aware of what an amazing kisser he was. He probably had women practically lining up just to tell him they wanted him to molest their faces with his lips—and I really couldn't blame them.

Lily smiled at me. "Look, he liked it—in fact it's all he can think about right now."

I looked at her—excuse me, what? He liked it? I was so sure that I had screwed something else since the kiss hadn't been planned. I had simply been rambling and then he had to smile that stupid attractive smile, and then start laughing. Good laughs had always seemed to me to be a sign that a man had a good sense of humor—or maybe that was what I wanted it to mean—but the point was that his laugh had made me do it. It had made me practically attack him and I'd liked it until I felt like everything about it was unprofessional—and it totally was.

"I just can't go there…even if I'm starting to believe that I want to." I told her with a sigh. "It's not that I don't enjoy his company for some odd reason it's that…it's that he has so much on his plate and I can't add myself to it. His first and only duty on this mission should be to Enterprise—Enterprise should be his only leading lady."

Lily nodded and we stepped out of the lift and headed into my quarters. She seemed impressed with how simple it was, and I blushed a little and went over to straighten out my little work area. It was where I worked and where I ate, and I had abandoned it the last couple days in terms of cleaning it up. I knew it made me somewhat of a recluse, the most important thing to me now that I was here was getting my work down as efficiently as possible. I needed to prove to myself and to the crew that I could do this—I was doing well because I was good at what I did and not because I was dating the captain.

"I think the problem for you and Jimmy is finding a balance—if his status is an issue then maybe you just shouldn't tell anyone about it." Lily suggested.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that we date and then lie about it? When is lying ever the rational choice?"

Lily shrugged a little. "I think that if you're both willing to dwell on it this much then it means something and if it means something…then you both owe it to yourselves to try it out. If you want another opinion, I'm sure Spock would be willing to talk it over with you—he is after all the most logical one of this ship."

"He really is." I told her with a slight smile and then it faded and I blushed when I found her studying me. "What?"

"You really care about Spock…don't you?" She asked me.

What kind of question was that? I admired him for his logic and for the way he handled himself so professional outside of his personal life with Lily in their quarters. He was much more of my mentor and I really hoped she didn't think that I was trying to steal her husband because I wasn't—I wasn't that kind of woman. Still…I did care about Spock. Ever since I'd met him I'd know that we had a lot in common and over the months I'd gotten really attached to him and to his logical advice.

I nodded at her. "Yeah, I do—but trust me, he's all yours."

****

Spock's POV

Megan sat down across from me at the chess set when Lily left, and she smiled at me. I actually had talked to Megan very much in a while and it was only polite to see how she had been. She set the chess set up again and took the first move and I nodded at her, then wondered why she was looking at me the way that she was. Had I done something wrong? Was I supposed to be saying something? Humans were fascinating and I was still learning so much about them.

"Pav says you're not going to let him assemble the crib." Megan said with a laugh. "Honestly, I don't blame you. I mean he could do it—don't take it the wrong way—it's just that it's your baby, so you should do it."

I watched her make the next move. "I did not mean to imply that Mr. Chekov could not have done a satisfactory job."

Megan smiled. "I am quite aware of that, Spock."

"You are rather skilled at this game." I told her as I made a move and she captured a piece.

Megan shrugged. "I've been a little bored lately too but I've been practicing my chess skills, not reading to a baby in my stomach."

I looked up at Megan as I realized that she was implying that I had implied that Lily was very bad at chess. It was not that Lily was bad at chess—she simply did not concentrate on learning the entirety of the rules of this new form of chess. I had played her twice in the 20th century version, and while we drew once, she did in fact beat me. She had the mind for chess; she was simply occupied with trying to stimulate the brain development of our child growing in her stomach. Perhaps Megan had simply stated that she was only better because she had the time to learn all of the rules—still she had mentioned Lily.

"If Lily took the time to learn all of the rules, she would be a formidable opponent." I told Megan, making another move. "Eventually she will find something else to do with her time other than read out loud—I do encourage that though."

Megan smiled at me. "You are going to make a terrific father, Spock—your baby will have no choice but to love you."

"I still do not believe that we should assume that." I told her, still wondering about the purpose of the one piece infant clothes from Jim.

"It is simply one of those silly Earth customs." Megan replied with a shrug, knowing what I was referring to. "Checkmate."

I looked at the board and then a smile crept onto my face—Megan was definitely a worthy opponent. I had not been defeated in chess for a very long time, and it was refreshing to try and learn a new strategy to defeat a new opponent. Megan was grinning and asked if I wanted to play again, so we set the board up again and she made a first move that had been different from her first move last game. She was one of those people who apparently did not have a set strategy—she simply made moves as she saw fit to. That would make learning how to beat her, a challenge—a challenge that I was gladly going to accept.

"I can't believe she beat you!" McCoy exclaimed.

"Perhaps he decided not to cheat this time." Janet told him in a loving mocking tone, and then she laughed a little bit.

McCoy shot her a look. "The man usually never loses!"

"That's because he's logical and his brain can naturally calculate outcomes. Then all he has to do is make the most logical move and then wait to see how his opponent reacts." Janet explained.

I knew that as much as he loved her, McCoy was not taking kindly to the support that Janet was throwing my way. She had practically just called him irrational, and though I agreed, I knew how he must be feeling. I looked up after I made another move, noticing that Amanda and Mr. Scott had come over to watch as well. Mr. Scott was cheering Megan on much to Amanda's displeasure and I realized that I was really the only person in this room with a handle on my emotions. This was how it was going to be with me from now on—the only one in control, surrounded by humans. I did not mind so much either…they had all become quite dear to me, which was a scary emotion all on its own.

"Wow…Megan's really good." Amanda said. "There were two other moves I would have made, but hers were much better."

Megan smiled at her. "You beat those couple times though last week, Amanda—I'm sure if I was your opponent I wouldn't come off as being so good."

Amanda smiled. "Thanks for the compliment, Megan."

"Anytime, Amanda—checkmate again, Spock." Megan told me, beaming.

I nodded to her. "Congratulations—that was a very stimulating and rewarding game."

Lily laughed as she came into the quarters. "So Megan won, huh?"

Janet hurriedly waved her over, slipping her arm through Lily's as we all nodded, and then Mr. Scott announced that he had some engineering to do, and Amanda and Megan both said they had to help him out with it. Lily hugged them all goodbye and I thanked them for their gifts once again, Chekov leaving to head back to the bridge. It was officially only me, Lily, Janet and McCoy and Lily laughed with Janet about how bad she was at chess compared to Megan. McCoy mentioned that he needed to be getting back to Sick Bay as he rubbed Lily's stomach softly, and Janet decided that if everyone was leaving then she should too.

"Enjoy the gift." Janet told Lily with a wink and she blushed.

I gave a nod as Janet and McCoy left mine and Lily's quarters, and then turned to Lily. She smiled at me and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it back up into a ponytail using a hair band she had on her wrist. She sighed a little and then kissed me swiftly, picking up some of the food trays. I helped her with the cleanup and then sat down on the bed next to her as she plopped down and then laid back. She laughed a little bit and I smiled at her, knowing that she was thoroughly pleased with the turn out, and happier than ever about the baby. I was also sensing some extreme want and needed for her, and it made me raise an eyebrow as she propped herself up on her elbows and looked at me.

"You wanna see what's in the bag?" She asked me, referring to Janet's present.

"It is the only present I have yet to see." I told her, not resisting the curiosity.

She blushed a little but smiled as she grabbed the bag and headed for the bathroom. "All right—I'll be back in a jiffy."

****

Bones' POV

I turned to face Janet in the lift, returning her kiss as she kissed me softly. She wanted to be with me but we both had work to do, and I wasn't quite sure what else was behind the kiss today. It wasn't that I wasn't enjoying it—even if she'd completely dismissed my ability to have rational thought just a few minutes ago—it was just that she wasn't all there. She was worried, and I knew that if she was worried, then I needed to figure out what was going on. She was wrapping arms around my neck though, so I reached out to stop the lift and she laughed a little.

"Someone's thinking naughty thoughts." Janet told me as I grunted a little.

I nodded and picked her up pressing her against the lift wall as she automatically wrapped her legs around my waist. She smiled and kissed me a little more, aware that I wasn't actually going to take her then and there because I knew she wouldn't like it. Well…it wasn't so much that she wouldn't like it—she just wasn't the kind of girl that liked to be taken up against a wall. Besides, I was still trying to live down the mold table incident, so I was being cautious. Janet kissed me swiftly, and then let go of me with her legs and planted her feet firmly on the ground.

"You should get to Sick Baby and start trying to find a cure." Janet told me as she fixed her uniform and started the lift up again.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Janet took a deep breath. "I was going to let Lily tell you and Megan because she begged me to let her, but this is kind of serious. You guys are all giving your father the silent treatment and I completely understand that, but I think that with Leona a little too ill today to even make it to the baby shower for her only daughter, you need to know what's going on."

"Janet, please get to the point." I told her as the lift doors opened.

She sighed and started to get off onto her deck. "Lily has Pallitosis just like Leona."

I wanted Janet to stay and talk to me about it, but the lift doors closed and I knew she was going to be busy once she got to Engineering for Scotty to give her work. I ruffled my hair a little in nervous confusion, and then the second I got to Sick Bay, I looked at Nurse Chapel. She was well aware of the look that came onto my face when I meant business, and she was suddenly quite alert. I really couldn't ask for a better nurse—even though I loved Janet, Christine just knew better what she was doing. Engineering was where Janet belonged whether I missed her or not, and Nurse Chapel would be the perfect candidate for helping me to find the cure to Pallitosis.

"Pallitosis—it sounds like something I've studied before, but I need to double check." I told her.

"Yes, Doctor." She said with a nod and went to search the database for it, looking up at me as I came over to her. "It's a Betazoid cancer. It says here that it's hereditary, and it kind of gestates in the body until its ready to activate."

I found my heart sinking when I thought about what this meant for Lily—it meant that she had a disease that our father never had the courtesy to mention to her, and now that she knew she had it, she knew she'd given it to her unborn child. That had to have been why Leona was around to talk to her daughter…she knew she was dying. It really didn't make up for all of the lost years, but I'd have to talk to Dad about that later. Right now I had to focus on somehow finding a cure—that meant finding out how the cancer worked. Did it start off as a bacteria? As a virus? I needed to know the chemical properties of it.

Nurse Chapel looked at me. "What can I get you, Doctor? I have a feeling you wouldn't have had me look it up if you weren't trying to find a cure for it."

I smiled at her a little. "I need you to go to Leona Crae's quarters and bring her to me so I can run some tests on her. I have a feeling that if I can figure out how it started in her and what the cancer actually attacks, and then I can figure out how to stop it from occurring in Lily. So…bring me Leona and then we'll go from there."

"Right away, Doctor." Nurse Chapel complied, heading out of Sick Bay for me.

I sighed a little as I realized that I could lose one of my baby sisters to a disease I didn't really know. I wanted to cure Lily of it, even if it was too late to save Leona. Leona was Lily's only tie to her home planet, and her biological mother, but my first duty was to save my sister. Lily had always been there for me no matter what, and it was my turn to be there for her—even if she hadn't told me about it. And why hadn't she? I knew she was feeling overwhelmed, but she certainly wasn't busy at all. She had had a lot of opportunities to bring it up with me and she hadn't used a single one.

Then again, if I had a serious illness I wouldn't tell anyone about it except for Star Fleet because that was regulation. Lily had probably already told them, and though she wanted to tell Megan and me, she hadn't found the right way to do it. That meant that I couldn't run to Megan about it, because I needed to respect that Lily wanted to tell her. I knew that Janet wanted to respect her so I wasn't mad at her—I was thankful. Knowing gave me more time to figure out a cure for her, and Lord knew I was going to be the one to find this cure if it was the last thing that I did…I just needed to run tests on Leona before I could begin the rest of my research.

"You wanted to see me, Doctor?" Leona asked me, smiling weakly as she walked into Sick Bay.

I nodded to her. "Yes I did, Leona—it has been brought to my attention that you have Pallitosis, and I would like very much to run some tests on you to see if I can find a cure."

"Be my guest, Leonard." She replied as she smiled at me some more. "If you think that you can spare Lilybean from this fate then I am willing to give you all the information that I have to give."

"Thank you, Leona." I told her with a breath of relief.

With Leona's cooperation I would be able to figure this out—I would be able to find a cure. Even if it took years to do so, I wasn't going to stop trying to find the cure until I found it. So I helped Leona up onto one of the medical beds and pulled out the tricorder, frowning a little at how weak her life sign seemed to be right then…I was going to need to work pretty fast.