Final chapter! Thanks everyone for sticking with me for so long. At this time I don't have any plans for another sequel, but never say never.

Disclaimer: not mine

THREE MONTHS LATER

Jim had honestly expected to be a nervous wreck today.

The last few months had been routine, and more than a little boring. Once he had returned to Earth, he and the rest of his command crew had taken up teaching positions at the Academy. As the days passed, it was beginning to look like their total time dirtside would be closer to nine or ten months most likely, rather than the six months Archer had originally predicted. This was mostly due to Scotty's need to continually question the design team over every little detail and then argue that they needed to upgrade everything even further.

Almost as soon as Jim had returned to Earth, he had walked right into a shouting match between Scotty and the team – the Engineer called it a brainstorm session, but it was a few decibels too high for Jim to completely buy that – and then presented Jim with a whole new set of plans for several departments. This had necessitated Jim to go back to the design team on his Chief Engineer's behalf, apologizing and asking if they could rework certain sections. As a result, the planning stage had been drawn out longer than expected, which meant their time on Earth would need to be extended by a few months.

It worked out for Jim though, because it would mean that Carol would give birth to their daughter before they shipped out. Her mother had been ecstatic to know that she would be able to be there to see her granddaughter as a baby. Due to the extremely extended leave, the Admiralty had made the decision to have all Enterprise crew re-up for a full five year mission or retire before they left Earth again, rather than have them complete their previous mission and return to Earth again after just eighteen months.

No one had objected, and all crew members would leave their current temporary assignments a full four weeks before their scheduled departure, to allow for a proper shore leave and give them time to prepare for another five years in space. No one had opted to retire. Jon had confided in Jim that that always surprised the Admiralty, after every universe-saving mission the Enterprise undertook – they always expected at least a few officers to decide that enough was enough. Jim just shrugged and said his crew was used to it by now. This was just another day at the office.

Jim had been splitting his time between teaching three senior level courses at the Academy and working with Scotty and the design team on their new ship. In between that, he was also coordinating with Carol and Jon to plan and organize their wedding. It was going to be a simple ceremony, but Jim had a few guests he wanted to attend who didn't live on Earth, so Jon was helping get them transport to the planet.

So the first three months of their time on Earth passed relatively easily, other than being bored out of his mind staying in one place for so long. The day of the wedding, Jim really thought he was supposed to be more anxious. Weren't grooms supposed to be nervous? McCoy definitely seemed thrown off by how calm Jim was, as they got ready together in Jim and Carol's apartment – the girls had taken over Spock and Uhura's rooms.

Jim had asked Spock, McCoy, and Cory to be his groomsmen, while Carol was having April, Uhura, and Joanna stand with her. Spock and Uhura were officially engaged now, with a human wedding ceremony set to take place a few weeks before they were scheduled to depart from Earth, and a Vulcan bonding ceremony in the works for shortly after, when they stopped at New Vulcan to deliver some supplies on their way out of chartered space. Spock had apparently taken McCoy's advice to heart, and Uhura was thrilled to be able to celebrate both cultures. She was looking forward to finally marrying the man she had been in love since her second year at the Academy.

The rest of the guest list was small, and included Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, and Kevin from the Enterprise, along with Jayla, Jon, Richard, Chris, Shay, and all of Jim's kids from Tarsus. Even Jenny and Diana, who were both serving on separate ships in Starfleet had gotten leave to come back to Earth for the wedding, which Jon definitely had something to do with.

Sha'al had come from Andoria. Carol's mother was there, and Sam and Aurelan had come out from Texas. Jim was grateful that his brother understood why he hadn't asked him to be a groomsman; their relationship was better than it had ever been, but Jim had other brothers now too, and they had been in his life far more than Sam had over the years.

Cory had brought Amanda, now sporting a sparkly engagement ring of her own as they were in the process of planning their own wedding. They had really stepped up the planning once Jim had returned, since they were now on a deadline and would need to hold the ceremony before the Enterprise was complete – Cory couldn't imagine not having Jim be his best man.

"Are you sure you haven't taken anything?" McCoy asked, drawing Jim out of his thoughts.

The Captain looked up from his position on the couch, and raised a confused eyebrow at McCoy who was standing over him with his dress uniform mostly straight, though a few buttons were still undone. "What?"

McCoy rolled his eyes, and Spock glanced up from his own spot by the far wall where he was straightening the commendations pinned to his chest under Cory's scrutinizing stare.

"You're way too calm for this. I was a nervous wreck with Jocelyn, and not much better with April. You're not only getting married, you've got a kid on the way. How the hell are you this calm?!"

Jim shrugged, and glanced around at the other occupants of the room. "I love Carol," he said simply. "I mean, honestly I haven't really thought much about the ceremony itself. So much else going on that it just doesn't seem like that big a deal. Nothing's really going to change between us."

McCoy sat down next to his friend with a huff. "Just don't forget to say 'I do'," he grinned, and dodged the light slap Jim aimed at his shoulder.

"I believe it is time to depart if we wish to arrive at the venue on time," Spock interrupted them.

Jim quickly stood up and straightened his uniform, making sure his own commendations were correctly pinned, then leveled a glare at McCoy's still undone buttons. The doctor growled and corrected the issue with a groan, before the group exited the apartment. They were holding the ceremony at Golden Gate Park and had rented out a nearby restaurant for the reception afterwards, so the four men climbed into a transport to head off campus.

XXX

Jim waited eagerly with Jon and McCoy at the front of the short aisle, and watched as Joanna and Cory walked towards them, followed shortly by Spock and April. Uhura as the maid of honor followed them on her own, and then everyone turned and stood up for Carol's entrance.

Carol had debated for a while on whether she wanted someone to walk her down the aisle. She could make a case for having her mother do it, or asking Chris to stand in. But she was also a fiercely independent woman, and there was another part that balked at the whole tradition of being given away by anyone.

Jim had told her it was entirely her choice, so Carol decided in the end that she was the one who had chosen Jim, so she would walk down that aisle towards her future husband alone. Her mother, though disappointed, accepted this decision and sat in the front row next to Chris.

As soon as he caught sight of his soon-to-be wife, Jim almost forgot to breathe. McCoy had to elbow him sharply before he remembered that he needed oxygen.

Carol had opted to wear a wedding dress, partly because though she didn't agree with all of the antiquated traditions she knew her mother wanted to see her in a white dress, but also because the Starfleet dress uniform really wasn't flattering when one was four months pregnant. Her dress had long sheer lace sleeves, a deep v-neck, and lace over white satin that cut off at the knees. The seam tied the dress in under her bust, and flowed down from there to account for her ever growing belly. In her hands she carried a bouquet of lilies.

Carol offered a radiant smile to Jim as she joined him in front of Jon, passing her bouquet to Uhura to hold, while all the guests sat back down.

Jim had asked Jon to be conscious of the two pregnant women in the group. He didn't want Carol to be standing up for too long, and Shay, now seven months along, had been placed on partial bedrest by her doctor after experiencing early contractions a week ago. She was allowed to be up and moving, but not too much and would probably have to cut the reception short.

So Jon didn't waste too much time introducing the couple they all knew very well by this point, jumping right into the reason they were all there, and leading the couple through their vows.

Soon enough, he was announcing them man and wife, and Jim leaned forward eagerly to kiss Carol for the first time as her husband.

When they pulled apart, they continued to hold each other's gazes for a long moment, hands clasped tightly and both smiling widely.

The moment was broken when McCoy prodded Jim's back expectantly, and they reluctantly broke apart to accept congratulations from their guests, before they all piled into the various transports that everyone had taken to get to the park, and headed for the restaurant that would hold the reception.

XXX

The reception was just like the ceremony, very low key. They had rented out the entire space, and had an open bar in addition to a buffet dinner.

Neither Jim nor Carol wanted anything fancy, and vehemently denied anyone the opportunity to give any official speeches.

Shay and Chris, as expected, bowed out early in the evening. Shay promised Jim that Chris would be back once he took her home, though the Admiral didn't look happy about it – not that he didn't want to enjoy the evening with Jim and Carol, he just didn't like leaving his wife alone. Shay was adamant though, and Chris did reappear an hour after he had left.

The night was winding down when Jim found himself seated by the bar with Chris, watching as his wife laughed at something April was saying. She was in the middle of a group of about a dozen people, all listening to whatever story April was sharing – Jim would place good money on it involving him, if the looks the group kept throwing him were any indication.

"So does it feel any different?" Chris drew the Captain's attention, and Jim turned back to the Admiral.

He let out a soft huff of laughter as he took a swig of beer, and set the bottle down as he contemplated. "Honestly? Not really," he admitted. "I mean, I told Bones as much this afternoon, that it wouldn't really change anything, but I guess on some level I did expect to feel at least a little different than I did yesterday."

Chris laughed lightly and shrugged. "I know what you mean," he admitted. "My wedding got a little overshadowed by that attack in London, and then everything that happened afterwards, but I kept waiting for something to feel different. But then, Shay and I had been living together and acting like a married couple for a couple of decades before that, so it makes sense that it wouldn't really change anything. You and Carol have been living together for years, there's not much that's going to be different after today."

Jim nodded. "It's just a piece of paper, right?"

Chris snorted and raised his beer bottle in a mock salute. "To making it official," he toasted, and took a long drink.

Jim looked back at his wife just in time to see Carol turn to him and smile. Her whole face lit up in joy, and Jim couldn't help but grin in return.

"Honestly the whole husband/wife thing has been secondary to me," he admitted quietly, turning back around and focusing on the beer bottle in his hands. The Admiral raised an eyebrow in silent question, and Jim shrugged, still not looking at him. "I'm thrilled to be married to Carol. What's been freaking me out is the whole what comes next thing."

"Being a father," Chris surmised. It wasn't hard, he was pretty terrified of that concept himself.

Jim nodded, embarrassed. "I mean, it's not like I had a great role model growing up. Don't get me wrong, you were pretty great when I was a teenager," he furrowed his brow, "though I'm not entirely sure 'I've got a spare room if you ever need it' is a great way to handle my own kid."

Chris shook his head, amused. "Jim, I think of you like a son, and I'm thrilled to have been a part of your life for so long, but when I met you, you didn't really need a father. You needed a safe place to crash when you weren't wandering the universe, and someone to check in on you every now and then to make sure you hadn't lost yourself in solving some unsolvable theory or inventing a new method of space travel –"

"Didn't I kind of do that?" Jim cut in, smiling slightly.

Chris rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Jim sobered and nodded minutely. Chris was right. He hadn't needed the man to be a father, no matter that he saw him in that role anyway. He hadn't needed someone to set boundaries or curfews, to go to for approval or help with homework. Which brought him back to his original fear. "How the hell am I supposed to do this?" he asked almost desperately. "I've got no experience to draw on here. Even with Joanna, I could just hand her back to Bones and he made all the decisions. All I can do is try not to screw it up too badly."

"Well that's a stupid way to approach things," McCoy's voice cut in abruptly, and both men looked over in surprise to see the doctor sitting on Jim's other side with his own beer in hand.

McCoy had taken Joanna back to their apartment a little while earlier – even though she was nearing fifteen, midnight was still entirely too late for her to be out in his mind. He had returned just in time to catch Jim's fears being laid out to the Admiral.

McCoy sighed and set his beer down, turning in his seat so he could look at Jim head-on. "You're going to screw up, Jim. It's part of being a parent. You're going to make mistakes and mess things up good from time to time, but it won't be the end of the world."

Jim frowned. "So how do I do this then?"

McCoy paused for a moment, considering. Finally, he replied, "It's not that complicated when you think about it. When the kid cries, give her a hug. When she hurts, you give her a hug. When she's scared, tell her she's safe. When she's mad, make sure she can find you when she's not mad anymore. When she does good, you tell her you're proud of her, when she screws up make sure she knows everything's going to be OK. When she makes you happy, you tell her you love her; when she makes you angry, you tell her you'll always love her."

Jim considered his friend's words. "That doesn't sound so hard," he acknowledged.

McCoy immediately snorted and shook his head. "It is hard. It's one of the hardest jobs you'll ever have." He took a swig of his beer. "Being Captain of the Enterprise's got nothing on being a dad." He set his beer down once more, and shrugged. "Jim, there's only one secret to being a good parent: you just have to love your kid with everything you've got."

XXX

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Jim smiled softly down at his sleeping wife. Carol had every reason to be exhausted.

Twelve hours of labor, and all Jim could do was hold her hand and tell her he loved her.

He wished he could do more, but even with the drugs he knew Carol had been in pretty intense pain.

But looking down at the tiny bundle of joy in his arms, he knew it was all worth it. "Hey there," he whispered, captivated by every part of his daughter's face. "I'm your dad. I'm going to screw up so badly, but I'm also going to love you more than life itself."

"That's all she needs," Carol's voice was groggy, but when he looked at her he saw her smiling back at him. "And for the record, you're not going to screw up as badly as you seem to think. You know what not to do, so you're already doing better than many new parents."

Jim hadn't thought of it like that, but he liked the idea. They were silent for a few minutes, both watching their daughter, until Jim finally looked back up. "Are you feeling up to a call?"

Carol's smile widened, and she nodded. There was a PADD sitting on the table beside the bed, and Carol picked it up as Jim moved so that he was sitting next to her while she placed the call.

Chris must have been waiting for just this moment, because he picked up barely two seconds later. His anxious expression broke into a large grin as he took in the family on the screen. "She's beautiful," the Admiral said quickly, and then looked off screen, jerking his head to call someone over.

Jim beamed as Shay entered the screen with his three-month-old godson. "Hey Shay, Jamie."

"Oh Jim, Carol, she's gorgeous," Shay gushed, leaning forward as if she could get a better look that way.

"So, are you going to introduce us?" Chris asked impatiently. Jim had been very tight-lipped on what they were going to name their daughter, and he had been dying to know for months.

Jim and Carol shared a look, before Jim smiled and held his daughter closer. "Chris, Shay, I'd like you to meet our daughter: Christina Elizabeth Kirk."

Chris blinked, startled. And then his smile returned as he surreptitiously tried to keep a few tears from leaking out of his eyes and making their way down his cheek. "I love it," he whispered.

Jamie started to fuss, so Shay regretfully stood up, bouncing him gently. "I think someone's hungry," she apologized. "Congratulations you two, I can't wait to meet Christina in person."

They nodded their good byes, and Chris watched his wife and son head into the bedroom before he turned back to the screen. "I should probably go as well." He really didn't want to, but they were scheduled to make a First Contact the next day, and he needed to make sure he was fully briefed on the protocols for the new species. "Thank you so much for calling, and I'm truly honored."

Jim blushed slightly, but he wasn't embarrassed about naming his daughter after the only father figure he had in his life, one of the most influential people in his life in all actuality. He was proud to give his daughter this name, and Carol had loved it the moment he had suggested it.

Chris signed off shortly after that, leaving the new family alone once more. Jim and Carol returned their attention to their new daughter, watching her sleep in silence. They could have stayed like that forever, just watching her breathe. Jim didn't think he'd ever get tired of watching his daughter.

Carol leaned into his side contentedly. "We're both going to make mistakes, Jim," she said softly, recalling what he had been telling Chrissie when she had woken up. Jim looked at her, confused, but she kept her gaze focused on Chrissie. "I don't have any idea what I'm doing either, and I had two parents who were actually there and semi decent." She ignored the terrorist her father had turned out to be, as even without him her mother was still a pretty good example to live up to – a powerful independent woman who managed to have a full time career in a position of power at Starfleet while also raising a daughter to be an independent successful woman in her own right. "The whole idea of parenthood is that we stumble blindly along this path together and hope that we can figure the answers out before she realizes we have no clue."

Jim chuckled in amusement and nodded. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Sounds like a solid plan to me."

And we're at the end. I hope you all enjoyed. I did consider having their child be named David like in canon, but I really wanted a daughter, and I wanted her named after Chris. In my mind, they'll have a second child in a few years, and maybe they name him David.

Please review and let me know what you think!