Ravenswood Estate, Douglas, Illinois, Earth- Stardate 1205.28

Richard opened his eyes to find it 07:14 the following day. Over the years, Richard had lived on different bases; he had learned to sleep through most things. Richard was awoken by a noise in the distance and had almost managed to escape the bed before Lynn started to stir. "Morning." She said, the sleep still in her voice.

"Morning." He smiled as he placed his feet onto the ground, stood up, and fully stretched.

"How did you sleep last night?" Asked Lynn as she raised her torso into a semi-seated position.

"I think Dorothy said it best in The Wizard of Oz when she said there's no place like home." He beamed. She smiled too, knowing that he would be home now for at least a couple of weeks.

"What are your plans for this morning?" She asked as he walked over to the window where. Lynn heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance.

"Off to deal with one girl on a horse and one horse's ass." He mused.

"The girl on the horse is already beating herself up over this. You can tell by the rhythm of Dragon Fire's pace. She gets that from her father." Lynn yawned.

"What do you mean?" He quizzed.

"I once went out with this pilot, that whenever something was bothering him, he flew faster and harder."

"Sounds like I need to meet this guy." He joked before Lynn continued.

"His daughter picked up that trait from her father. Luckily, it seems to be isolated to riding horses, not in surgery." She laughed. "She has already faced me. Christine is scared to death about this afternoon so please, go easy on her?"

"Don't worry; I'll save the Brimstone for Jack." He said, receiving a quick glare from Lynn as he finished getting dressed and headed for the stairs.

"You better not go too hard on him either!" A response came as she heard the screen door shut at the bottom of the stairs. She tried to lay back down to sleep, but her brain had other ideas.

The pounding of horse hooves had come to a gentle clop, indicating that Dragon's Fire was going through her cool down by the time he had exited the house and made his way to the barn. By the time he got there, Christine had brushed her down and fed her some fresh hay and carrots. But unfortunately, her concentration was broken when she heard the creak of the gate leading into the paddock.

"Hi, Sweetie." Came a voice behind her.

"Hi, Daddy." She replied, with her voice trembling. "I suppose you're here to take your turn at me now too?" She asked. Richard came up, put his hand on her shoulder, and turned her around to face him. She buried her face into his chest and continued weeping as he did so.

"No, sweetheart. You've already been through enough, and I don't think that Drags can handle another round of you being upset, but we do need to talk."

He walked over to a bench in the barn and motioned for her to sit down beside him. As she did, it was hard for him not to realize that she was almost identical to her mother in nearly every way at this stage in her life. As she snuggled back up to him, he absently started to run his fingers through her ponytail as he did when she was younger. Neither of them said anything until he broke the silence.

"You see, Christine," he stated, "There are times in life when you are faced with the choice of doing what is right and what is correct. Sometimes they are the same, but other times they aren't. And when they aren't, and you chose the wrong one, then those actions have consequences. I know that you believed in your heart that you were doing the right thing for Grace. But what if Grace had an ectopic pregnancy while assigned to that Science Station? That would have put both her and the baby on your conscience if anything happened." He stated matter of fact.

"I know that it sounds silly, but as I've said before, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time." She said, finally turning to face him. "You're not mad at me, too, are you?" She asked.

"I don't think that anyone is 'mad' at you per se, sweetheart. However, it goes against your better judgment, and I hope that you have learned a life lesson about the dangers of doing favors for people and how something that seems innocent at the time can morph into the elephant in the room before you realize it. It's kind of like being in quicksand. You start flailing around, and before you know it, you're up to your neck in the stuff."

"I never thought of it like that. I just wanted to help Jack and Grace. They were so excited about this assignment. They both said that they would never get this kind of opportunity again, and I didn't want to let them down, especially after they trusted me with something so huge like that." She stated.

"Well, now that we are both a little older and a little wiser, I say let's go back into the house, and while you get out of these smelly clothes, I'll cook you and your mother some breakfast."

"So, you're not upset with me?" She asked.

"How can I stay upset with someone who has holo images of me sitting next to a purple hippo wearing a tiara. Do you know how much you could get for those on the black market if they got out?" He joked.

"Probably not as much as you think!" She laughed as they both stood up and made their way to the house.

Kitt Peak Observatory, Near Tuscon, Arizona- 11:47 hours.

"Shuttlecraft Stinger, this is restricted airspace. Please divert your course immediately." stated the voice on the speaker inside the shuttlecraft cockpit.

The Type 6 Shuttle persisted, deliberately blowing up a huge pile of dust as it flew past the Command Centre before settling down on a ridge near a section of Temporary Accommodation Units. As the shuttle ramp opened, the occupant noticed that it was surrounded by six security guards with phaser rifles drawn. The jaws of the Security Officers dropped, as did the ramp when they saw the three boxed pips on the lone occupant's uniform.

"We are very sorry, Vice-Admiral..." signaling to lower their weapon, the lead guard stuttered, "But we were not expecting any Flag Officers today..." he trailed off.

"That is okay, Commander. I should have transmitted my authorization code sooner," Vice-Admiral Richard Skyler replied. "This is an unexpected trip. I'm sorry to interrupt your quiet Friday morning."

"No worries, Sir. Sometimes one needs a little excitement to break the mundane." the Commander replied, "But how can we be of help?"

"I'm looking for the temporary quarters of Lieutenant Jack Ryerson." the admiral said as he exited the shuttlecraft.

"He is racked in section 4, Sir. If you follow Ensign Tofete, he will escort you to the berth."

"Thank you."

"Right this way, sir." the ensign gestured towards a path down the hillside. Richard followed to a grouping of TAU with a gravel walkway between them.

"Third door to the right, sir," the ensign gestured in the correct direction. Richard noticed the ensign wanted to say something else.

"Was there something else ensign?"

"A recommendation, sir." The ensign looked to the admiral for permission to continue. With a gesture, Richard permitted him. "Sir, as this location rarely has visitors and how the air space over the base is restricted, it is my recommendation that authorization is sent before your arrival, as to be honest, sir, you very easily could have been shot."

"Recommendation noted, but this is not my first rodeo." Richard beamed.

"Fair enough, sir." the ensign turned and returned to his former security position.

Once the ensign was out of sight, Richard stepped to the door and rang the chime. It didn't take long for the occupant to respond. "Whoever this is at this hour, it better be important!"

"You have no idea, little brother." came the reply as the door split open to reveal a disheveled Jack Ryerson who looked like he had just been dragged out of bed. "Good to see you too, do you have a moment? We need to talk," stated Richard as he pushed past his brother to enter the berth.

"Do I have a choice?" asked Jack, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he let his brother past him.

"Not exactly..." replied the older brother as he turned to face the young man.

Jack made sure the door was closed and locked before he shuffled toward the kitchen corner of the room, "So, what's on your mind? Can I get you a coffee or something before you sit down?" Jack motioned to a small replicator and a dining table with two chairs.

"I'll have a glass of water," he replied as he sat down at the table. Jack shuffled to the replicator and returned to the table with a glass of water. Also a strong cup of coffee for himself. Jack took the chair opposite his brother, turned it around, and faced him.

"I'd like to talk to you about a trip to Scotland, a surprise wedding, and a baby on the way."

Jack's face paled as he took a long sip of coffee. "I can explain."

"I hope so." Richard crossed his arms and glared at his brother.

Jack stammered, "There was no easy way to deal with …this. Things started spiraling, and before we knew it …." Jack sighed, "We didn't know what to do." He pleaded, "We found out about the baby, and I kept having visions of Robin or Alan tearing me to pieces. I didn't want to face them without the two of us being married. I couldn't do that to Grace. I couldn't let her go home to her parents in shame. I love her too much to do that to her. And I respect the Scott's too much for them to find out that I had impregnated their baby girl without her, and I being married." Jack frustratingly ran his hands through his hair, leaving it odd. Tears in his eyes, he looked to his brother for help. "Getting married as fast as we could be the first thing that came to mind and the only peaceful resolution that either of us could think of without damaging anyone's reputations or disappointing any of you." Jack wiped his eyes with his hands.

"When did you learn she was pregnant?" Richard tried to keep his tone even.

"We were out Saturday morning biking, and she took a bad tumble. So medical did a pregnancy test before they did deep scans, per protocol." Jack wrapped his hand around his coffee mug and sipped, hoping to calm down. "When the nurse notified us, they couldn't do the deep scans due to Grace being pregnant. We thought she was joking."

"She wasn't."

"No." Jack took another sip, "I mean, I planned to propose to her that morning anyway, but… Argh. "

Richard allowed Jack to let it all out. "I didn't want it to be that way. I didn't want her to think I only married her because of the baby. I didn't want to lose her."

"She said yes, obviously."

"Called me a complete idiot and then said yes." Jack couldn't help a bit of a wry grin.

"Then why didn't you just come home and tell us."

Jack sighed and pushed himself to his feet, "We couldn't face you like that. We finally told you we were officially dating before I left for the assignment. So how were we going to explain she was pregnant after just telling you we were going out?"

"Oh, please, you two had been dating "officially" since Grace's second year of the Academy. The whole family knew that." Richard stood up to face his brother, "We had been expecting the two of you to realize how much you liked each other since you were 14."

"Were we that obvious?"

"I think a full spread of photon torpedoes would have been less obvious."

"Great…." Jack banged his head on the nearby wall.

"Why did you think sneaking your niece off to Scotland and then having her cover for you was a good idea? She put her career at risk to protect the two of you !?" Richard poked his brother in the chest. "I'm not sure if you know how pregnancies work, but we would have found out eventually."

"Gracie wouldn't get married unless Christine was there as her maid of honor. So I called in a few favors to get her to us," Jack replied. "As far as Christine's involvement in any coverup, I had no idea that she was involved in that sort of thing. As planned, I dropped off Gracie and Christine at Star Fleet Medical. I then came here and have spent the past week up all night trying to do research and spending my days dreaming of what you and the Scott's would do to Gracie and me when you all found out."

"There isn't much that can be done at this point. Luckily YOUR FAMILY was able to balance the pendulums before they swung too far and landed two Junior Officers and a Medical Intern in a pot of boiling water." Stated Richard.

"So…. what happens now? How is the Scott's taking this?" Jack asked, concerned.

"Naturally, Robin is concerned. She felt that you went behind her back." replied Richard disappointedly; "Brother to brother, I'm excited and happy for you. But if you were an officer under my command, it wouldn't end well for any of you," Richard noted disappointedly.

"Why do you say that?" asked Jack, confused.

"Because, my young brother, you violated the circle of trust in a big way." Richard walked over and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "How do you expect someone to put their life in your hands if you prove yourself to be untrustworthy? By withholding the fact that you are both now married, with a child, and then trying to cover it up, it demonstrates that you are either unwilling or unable to trust those of us who care the most about you. And by doing that, you have a lot of bridges to repair."

"I can see your point, but we made the best decision we could at the moment." Jack looked up at his brother. "But have you dealt with Admiral Robin Scott's wrath? You know how protective she is of her daughter." Jack pleaded with his brother to understand his situation.

Richard tried to keep a straight face, but he could not help a laugh at his brother's predicament.

"Is something funny, Richard?" asked Jack, very annoyed.

"I've dealt with Robin's wrath, but you have never faced the wrath of Lilly Rose, Lynn's mum." He chuckled. Richard got severe and looked his brother in the eyes, "I'm sorry that you had to face this when I was unreachable. I wish that you were able to come to me before you got to this point." Richard stated, remembering the times in Jack's life that Richard was away from his family.

"So, how do we fix this?" Jack asked, genuinely concerned.

Richard could see the scared little boy he raised in the man before him. Richard tossed an arm over his brother's shoulder, "To start, we are going to have dinner with the Scotts. Your nieces will be there, as will Lynn and I." Richard assured him.

"Do we have to rush in so soon?" Asked Jack.

"It wasn't a request. Now get showered and into some clean clothes. The girls are already there working on dinner, Sam has a bone to pick with you, and the rest of the clan is waiting on us." Richard gently shoved Jack towards the sonic shower.

After a few minutes, Jack returned to find Richard had laid out clothing for him like he did when he was younger, "You do know I can dress myself, right?"

"Your usual Stars jersey and jeans won't work today. "

"Why not? Robin has seen me in it for family things loads of times."

"She wasn't your mother-in-law then. So you, Sir, are meeting your in-laws for the first time", Richard handed him the shirt. "First impressions count, especially now."

"Thanks," Jack took the clothing from him and went into the personal area to change. From inside, he shouted out to his brother. "Any advice when I see them?"

Richard was pursuing the pictures Jack had on his shelf. "Yeah, don't do anything stupid." He picked up a picture of when Jack was seven and Grace was four and smiled.

"Like what?" Jack asked as he walked back into the main room.

Richard returned the picture to the shelf, "Like getting their daughter pregnant before you are married." He turned to face his now pale brother and smiled.

ow pale brother and smiled.