With This Ring - Chapter 2

It was easier for them to convince family and friends of their sincere desire to get married than Jim thought it would be. When he told Bones that he had asked Nyota to marry him and she had said yes, he expected to hear "Are you out of your Goddamn mind, Jim?" Instead, the good doctor bounced back and forth on his heels and his toes with his hands clasped behind his back and a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

"Congratulations, Jim!"

"Thanks. So ... you're not even a little surprised?"

"Nah, I always knew there was something special about the animosity that woman had for you."

"Does that include what she did during that Nautical Survival course our first year?"

"Well, looking back on it now in light of your engagement, I reckon she just didn't cotton much to the notion of you sticking your tongue down Rachel Thompson's throat."

"I didn't care dick about Rachel Thompson, Bones, you know that. Besides, she kissed me."

"But that didn't stop you from kissing her back, now did it? Right there in that cramped lifeboat in front of everyone," he grinned, "including Uhura."

"How in the hell did she find out about me fucking Rachel anyway?"

"You mean, she knew before seeing the kiss?"

"She must have. She started treating me like the village idiot with a bad case of cooties the next day. She didn't believe ... I didn't deliberately go after Rachel, you know that."

"Uh-huh."

"Ah come on, Bones, you were there! You opened the door! She flashed you, for Christ's sake!"

"Yeah ... only because I was on my way to work. Come to think of it, how in the hell did she know I was on a third-shift rotation?"

Jim waved a hand in dismissal. "My point is that Rachel came to our dorm and knocked on our door wearing nothing but a coat and a smile. And I was, as you may recall, a man on a sexual diet."

McCoy cocked an eyebrow. "As I recall, you were on that sexual diet because you'd promised a certain lady you would honor her wishes and wait until after the sixth date for her."

"It was one date a week, Bones ... and I did wait! She said if we managed to have six dates without me groping her or otherwise trying to get into her panties, she would tell me her first name just before slipping out of something silk and sexy.

"Good God, man! You'd already made it through the fifth week. All you had to do was hang in there for five more days. Humph. Ask me, you got what was coming to you."

"She whacked me upside the head with an oar! How can you defend that?"

"Aw shoot, that was just a love tap. I only had to put in three stitches."

Jim rubbed the site of the old wound with a shame-faced wince. "Uh-huh. You know, Bones ... your-your accent gets thicker when you're excited."

"What accent?" McCoy asked, with a noticeable southern drawl.

"Riiight ... no one would ever guess you're from Georgia."

McCoy frowned. "Damn it, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a linguist! We can't all be from Iowa, you know," he said with heavy sarcasm. "I guess that qualifies you to give me elocution lessons."

"Bones," Jim brought a hand to his chest, "you wound me with your caustic wit." He laughed at the cantankerous look on his friend's face. "Look, I was wondering if you'd stand by me at the ceremony as my Best Man."

The smile and bounce came back in a flash. "Of course I'll be your Best Man! Honored, sir, honored."

"I hate to interrupt your time with Joanna-"

McCoy waved his hand. "I'll bring Ladybug with me. She'll love it!"

"What ten-year-old girl doesn't love a wedding?" Jim said with a grin. "Thanks, bones." He turned to go, but McCoy called out to him before he reached the Turbolift.

"Jim, my grandma had a saying-'Women think in real time, and men think in dog years'."

Kirk squinted at his friend. "I-I'm not up on Southern proverbs. What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that you should have a chat with Uhura about Rachel Thompson, before she takes that long walk down the aisle."

"Why? Rachel Thompson is not the only woman I've been with in the last five years. She knows that."

"True, but Rachel Thompson is the only woman you got whacked for, isn't she?"


Jim called Spock into his Ready room just off the Bridge shortly after Alpha shift started.

Spock nodded at Nyota, "Lieutenant," before speaking to Jim. "You wished to see me, Captain?"

"Yeah, Spock, have a seat." Jim glanced at Nyota. "We ... ah ... we wanted to let you know that ... we're getting married."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Indeed?"

"We wanted you and Dr. McCoy to be the first ones to know," Nyota said with a gentle smile.

Spock looked back and forth between them. "I believe it is customary to offer congratulations at such a time." He held up his right hand in the Vulcan salute. "May your lives together be long and prosperous."

Nyota played with her hands for a moment before glancing up at Spock. "Thank you, but ... aren't you surprised?"

A small frown creased Spock's brow. "Surprised, Lieutenant? You and the Captain have spent a great deal of your downtime together now for 23 months, one week, three days, and sixteen hours. In addition, there appears to be a connection between the two of you that is most gratifying to see. Marriage seems ... logical."

Jim stared at Spock in bemusement. "Thank you, Mr. Spock," he said slowly.

Nyota was quicker to recover. "Spock ... we would like very much ... we hope you and T'Pring will be able to attend the ceremony."

Spock gave her a slight bow. "We would be honored to attend. Is there anything else, Captain?"

"Ah ... no, Mr. Spock. You're dismissed."

Nyota left as well, leaving Jim alone with his thoughts.

He had been concerned about how Spock would take the news. He had talked to Nyota and Spock together and separately after their relationship ended. They were two of his most valued senior staff members, and he needed to know if they would be able to maintain their professional relationship. They both convinced him that they were at peace with their decision. When he spoke to her alone, Nyota explained the reason for their break up.

It seems that T'Pring, Spock's betrothed with whom he had bonded at the age of seven, was off planet on a scientific excursion when Nero destroyed Vulcan. Spock lost his mother, but T'Pring lost everyone. Her pain and anguish over the lost of her family and her planet enhanced Spock's own sense of loss. Their combined pain helped to strengthen the bond between them, which had all but disappeared during his involvement with Nyota. Aside from their mental bond, Spock and T'Pring shared a connection through their common history, culture, tradition, and sameness that Nyota could never hope to comprehend-despite her extensive knowledge of Vulcan culture and languages.

The depth and breadth of Spock's sense of loss helped Nyota-helped them both-to understand that she was not the right woman for him. As she explained it, Nyota accepted that Spock and T'Pring had a profound foundation upon which to build a life. In fact, Nyota was the one who encouraged Spock to visit New Vulcan and explore his bond with T'Pring. She was not surprised, and indeed seemed sincerely pleased, to learn of Spock's marriage upon his return to the Enterprise. Nyota also suggested that T'Pring, a geoscientist and geologist, might consider enrolling in the special two-year accelerated program at Starfleet Academy, compressing four years into two, designed specifically for scientists who trained at the Vulcan Science Academy. There was nothing on New Vulcan for T'Pring without Spock. After completing the program, she would be able to join Spock on the Enterprise as part of the Geosciences department.

T'Pring was due to graduate from the program at the end of the month.


The next task was to contact their families. Jim could feel Nyota's frustration at his lack of enthusiasm for the endeavor. She was the only person other than Bones who knew just how hard family was for him.

They had talked a bit about his life growing up in Iowa over the past two years. Nyota had chipped away at him until enough of his shell cracked and flaked for her to get a sense of what life had been like for him. Once, when her eyes became moist, Jim knew that Nyota had gleaned more from what he said about his stepfather-Uncle Frank, he'd been told to call his stepfather, Uncle Frank--than he had intended. She probably gathered volumes from the extremely little he had to say about his mother as well ... but he didn't care dick about that.

Nyota knew about the infamous 'red car' incident-when he drove his father's 1965 Corvette Stingray over the cliff into a quarry. That car, an antique model in cherry condition, had been the only tangible connection he had to his father. One day Jim discovered that Uncle Frank was going to sell the car, was going to sell something George Kirk had dearly loved. So at the ripe old age of ten, Jim took the corvette on a glory ride at mach 90 plus, and then he sent it on to his father.

Nyota knew about the six months Jim spent in a juvenile detention center when he was thirteen, because that experience explained why he became so good at hand to hand fighting, why he'd studied martial arts. She also knew about his father's best friend, Jake Wilson, who picked Jim up from the police station once or twice without letting his mother know. Nyota smiled when he told her that the Wilsons had him over to their house every year for his birthday and Christmas, even if his mother was planet side.

So he knew she understood how hard it was for him. Jim bitched and moaned so much about it, Nyota had finally suggested they contact their families together. Therefore, she was seated beside him in his quarters when his mother asked if Jim had knocked Nyota up.

"Excuse me?" Nyota asked with wide eyes.

"Well, why else would you marry him?" She nodded her head with sudden understanding. "Oh I see, you found out about his piggy bank, didn't you?"

"What?" Nyota asked, confused.

"It's nothing," Jim said as he glanced from Nyota back to the screen. "Mom, it might surprise you to know that I do have a few good qualities."

Winona laughed. "Why, because of the uniform? Because of the Captains braids on your cuffs?" She looked at Nyota. "He's been nothing but trouble since the day he destroyed my husband's car."

A vein throbbed on Jim's right temple. "That was my father's car. It didn't belong to Uncle Frank!"

"I gave it to him! It was his," his mother hissed.

Nyota put her hand on Jim's arm before he could respond. "What we'd like to know, Ma'am, is if you'll be able to make it to our wedding. I'm guessing that 'Uncle Frank' is a definite no."

Winona narrowed her eyes. "You did it deliberately, didn't you? Disrespected Frank ... disobeyed me ... just to make our lives hell. The worst part was that my fellow officers looked at me as if it was somehow all my fault! George would have been so disappointed in you."

"Yeah? Well, I might have been the Boy Scout you wanted if you'd stayed planet side more often when I was little and-" Jim stopped himself from saying "needed you".

"When I was planet side I spent most of my time picking you up from detention or the Principal's office at school. It was so humiliating! Answering a summons from Juvenile Court or dealing with the angry parents of some stupid girl who got an early sex education from you." Winona shook her head. "Drinking, selling Andorian Dream Leaf-"

"You said if I wanted a motorcycle I had to pay for it myself. There weren't many viable job options for 15-year-old boys."

"-and smoking it,-"

"I stopped smoking Leaf when I started selling it." Jim glanced at Nyota. "Smoking the product is bad business."

"-gambling, fighting, whoring," she gave Nyota a snide look. "Don't fool yourself into thinking you'll be the only one, sweetie." She glared at Jim. "He is nothing like his father!"

Nyota gave Winona a scathing look. "I guess that's a definite no for you as well, then," she said. "Jim may have his faults, Commander Kirk," she cocked an eyebrow at the older woman, "as do we all, but he's smart, resourceful, loyal, and courageous. With just two years at the helm of the Enterprise and at only twenty-seven-years old, your son is already ranked as one of the finest starship captains in the Fleet!"

"Now just a min-"

"We won't detain you from your duties any longer, Ma'am. Goodbye." Uhura leaned forward and ended the transmission. They watched Commander Kirk's shocked face fade from the screen.

She looked at Jim, her large brown eyes moist and bright with anger. "My God ... how did you survive?" She ran a hand up and down his arm gently, protectively, so contrary to the look on her face. "How did you survive?"

Jim did the only thing he could do. He pulled her into his arms. After a minute or two of shared comfort, she pulled away. The tears she had stubbornly held back finally flowed down her cheeks.

"Did ... did your Uncle Frank ... did he?" Her eyes asked the question a psychologist had asked Jim during his Academy intake screening. Bones had once asked it as well.

"No ... never," he told her honestly. "He beat the shit out of me whenever the mood hit him, but he never touched me that way."

Jim wanted many things from Nyota, but he didn't want her pity. He took her face between his hands and brushed away her tears, then leaned his forehead against hers.

"Listen," he whispered, "that child you're mourning was brittle, but he didn't break. Do you hear me, Nyota? He was brittle, but he did not break.

She pulled back again and looked at him, her teeth biting her bottom lip. "Jake ... the Wilsons took care of you?"

He smiled with a shrug. "They did what they could. Jake owns three bars, the one where I met you and two more near the University. The bars take up a lot of his time. He and Hanna ... that's his wife's name, Hanna ... took more of an interest in me after I spent those six months in Juvie. They kept me in school, inspired me to go, really. Now, I'm not saying I didn't get into trouble from time to time, but they hung in there with me. Jake taught me how to play cards, how to ride and fix motorcycles. Jake's the one who gave me the 'sex' talk when I was eleven, and he taught me what to look out for when I started doing the yani-yani."

Nyota laughed, and Jim relaxed.

"The yani-yani? I haven't heard it called that since high school. And how old were you then ... twelve?"

"No," Jim ducked his head. "I was fifteen."

"I'll bet she was twenty-five," Nyota teased.

He grinned. "You know, Jake told me that he and my Dad raised a lot of hell in their teens, so I come by it honestly. My Dad inherited the corvette the year he graduated from the academy, before he met my Mom. Jake said he and Dad used to tear up the countryside and pick up girls in that car whenever Dad was home on leave. Jake met Hanna soon after Dad met Mom."

"Does Jake have any kids?"

"Yeah, he's got a daughter five years older than me and twin sons ten years younger than me." At Nyota's puzzled look, he explained. "The twins were sort of a ... surprise. His daughter Cami, short for Camille, is in Starfleet."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's a clinical psychologist at Starbase Five. She graduated near the top of her class, too. I'd love to have her on board the Enterprise."

Nyota grinned and gave him an affectionate hug. He could live with affection.

"All better?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Well then, let's call Jake and give him the news." He punched in a private transmitter code-JAW851-and they waited for someone to answer. A few seconds later, the screen burst into vivid color, life, and sound. Someone leaned back from the screen and a yellow and white kitchen came into view. Two teenage boys with mink brown hair sat at a table that was set for a meal.

"Jim? Hey Mom, Dad, it's Jim! He's in his uniform and he's got some awesome babe with him, too!"

"Eric!" a woman's voice admonished. "That is not how you greet people over the transmitter!" A man with salt and pepper hair and woman with honey-blond hair came into view carrying between them a platter full of meat, a bowl of mashed potatoes, what looked like steamed asparagus, and rolls. "I'm sorry about that, Jim," the woman said as she and the man placed the food on the table. She gave the screen a serious look and put her hand on the man's arm. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I have some news for you guys ... hey, is-is that roast beef?" Nyota elbowed him in the side. "Right, right ... um, Jake, Hanna, Eric, Eli ... I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. We, uh-mm ... we're getting married."

The Wilsons greeted the news with silence. Jake leaned forward, as if he were waiting for something.

Jim gave the older man a puzzled look. "Jake, man ... what-what are you doing?"

Jake looked at his wife and then back at the screen. "I'm just ... waiting for the punch line."

Jim laughed. "Yeah, I know exactly how you feel, but there's no punch line. We're getting married."

The Wilson family broke into smiles.

"Hey Jim," Eric looked at Nyota and nudged Eli, they each held up a thumb and nodded, "nice, man, nice," they said in unison.

"Boys, really," Hanna said.

Jake nodded sagely. "So, this is the one, huh?"

"Yep, this is the one."

"Oh, Jim," Hanna gushed, "I'm so happy for you. Nyota, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Thank you. It's wonderful to meet you as well, Mrs. Wilson. Jim has told me so much about your family."

"Please, call me Hanna. So ... when are you two getting married?"

Jim and Nyota filled them in on the details.

"Two nights on board an interstellar Carnival luxury cruise ship? Oh Yeah! Wait until the guys hear about this!" Eli crowed.

"Now wait a minute, boys," Jake said. "That's only for the wedding party and immediate family members."

Jim looked at his hands. "You are my immediate family. That's how you'll be listed on the ships manifest."

Hanna frowned. "What about Winona?"

"Commander Kirk declined our invitation," Nyota replied in a manner that prompted Jake and Hanna to look first at her and then at Jim.

"I see. I'm sorry, Jim," Jake said gently.

Hanna cleared her throat. "Nyota, did Jim happen to mention that I'm an event planner?"

Nyota fell back against her chair in relief. "Oh my God, that is so fabulous! I know my mother is going to faint when I tell her how soon we're getting married. Is it okay if I have her get in touch with you?"

Hanna beamed. "Of course! Other than the dress, the most difficult tasks have already been dealt with-location, catering, and the cake. Now you'll just have to choose a menu, a cake design, music, and a color scheme. December isn't exactly a peak period for weddings, so I can probably find you a good dress designer from my contact list who might not mind a short notice assignment. Or I can recommend Bridal houses, if you prefer. So just tell your mother to take deep breathes and relax. I'll handle the invitations, decorations, band selection, flowers, and help with the guest lists and anything else you need for no charge. This will be our wedding gift to you."

"Thank you so much!"

"Hanna, I ... thank you," Jim said, his voice full of affection and gratitude.

"You're both very welcome. Just forward me a copy of the event agreement when you get a chance. I may find provisions for a band from the ship's on-board orchestra hidden somewhere in the small print."

"I will."

"Remember those words," Jake said. The smug looked vanished from his face when Hanna elbowed him in the ribs.

Jim grinned and winked at Hanna. "Listen, we're gonna let you guys get back to your dinner. Will you give Cami the news?"

"We sure will, Jim. Talk to you soon, buddy," Jake said. Then he ended the transmission.

Jim exhaled. "Well, two down and one to go."

"I sent my parents a delayed message to call me, but it's still early in Botswana. They won't be up for at least another hour."

Jim wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "You wanna fool around to pass the time?"

Nyota crossed her arms over her chest. "Exactly what part of "no sex or no annulment" didn't you understand?"

Jim smiled. He could live with annoyed, too. "Oh we can fool around, we just can't have sex."

She blinked at him. "Captain-"

"Ah, ah, ah ... it's 'Jim' or 'James' unless we're on duty."

She arched an eyebrow. "Jim. It's all sex."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"Nyota," he laughed, "not everything that's wet, sticky, and pleasurable is sex."

"What do you call masturbation?"

"I call it a therapeutic massage from Rosie Palm." He showed her his right hand.

Nyota rolled her eyes. "And oral sex?"

"I call it an artful variation of the French kiss, otherwise known as foreplay."

"It's a sexual act!"

"It's just fooling around!"

She put a hand against her forehead and closed her eyes. "Anytime you have an orgasm, you're having sex."

He held up a finger and shook his head. "Ah-ha, but within the context of our assignment, It's not considered sex unless there's penetration."

A frown creased her brow. "Define penetration."

"Well it's-"

"Never mind!" Then she gasped. "You asked?"

"I asked." He moved closer to her, close enough to ignite the electric energy between them. The approximate distance was about 25.4 centimeters. He had made that discovery the first night they met in Riverside. "You're not the only one with a talented tongue, you know," he said suggestively.

Her reaction was not what he had expected. He expected enticing shivers and hitched breaths, but what he got was Miss Priss and Manners.

"Oh I know all about your talented tongue. Rachel Thompson just raved about your talented tongue," her eyes flicked down to his groin, "and everything else, to anyone who would listen!"

He leaned back in surprise. "What?"

"Bridge to Captain Kirk."

Nyota whipped her head around, unintentionally smacking Jim's face with her ponytail, and flounced over to the other side of the room in a huff.

"Kirk to Bridge ... what is it, Lieutenant Burns?" He silently cursed himself when he heard the bite in his voice.

"Captain, we have a transmission for Lieutenant Uhura. She said we should check with you if the transmission was routed back to Communications."

Jim looked over at Nyota. "Lieutenant Uhura is here, patch it through."

"Yes, sir ... patching through now."

Alima and Razi Uhura appeared on the screen wearing white sleep robes, seated at a square wooden table in a screened patio-probably a private boma or eatting area off their bedroom-with a wooden roof and slanting sides for shade. Jim watched the sun crest over Razi's right shoulder, casting a golden halo across the Kalahari Desert.

Nyota's parents lived at a safari resort in one of fifteen luxury vilas they rented out throughout the year.

The elder Uhuras were both zoologists. As Nyota had explained it to Jim, her parents bought the resort when she was five years old. By doing so, they were able to fund the daily operation of their animal hospital, which was associated with a small privately owned wildlife reserve on the Kalahari Desert. They also ran an on-site orphanage for rejected baby animals with a staff that cared for them until they were old enough to rejoin their herds. Some members of the Uhura family worked at the Wildlife Reserve as park rangers, some worked for the resort as tour guides and safari hosts, and Alima's two brothers and their wives ran the resort. Alima and Razi kept twenty-five percent of the revenue for living expenses, medical supplies, feed, and equipment. Another twenty-five percent went to the up keep of the reserve-fences, animal transport and such. And fifty percent went toward employee salaries.

The reserve had been in the care of the Uhura family for over one hundred years. Before the continent became unified as the United States of Africa, the Botswana government, desperate for revenue, began selling off parts of their wildlife reserves. Razi's great-grandfather secured a loan and bought the small reserve on the northern border of the Kalahari near the Konobi River. The Kalahari Desert Wildlife Reserve, as it was now called, survived after the other reserves were sold. Uhura's great-grandfather went before the Federation Council and petitioned for protection under the law and more land to help house the animals the reserve rescued before they could be destroyed. It was now one of only two wildlife reserves on the entire African continent.

Alima, a regal older version of Nyota, yawned demurely behind a delicate hand. Her eyebrows rose slightly when she noticed that Nyota wasn't alone. She reached over and squeezed Razi's hand when she saw the frown on her daughter's face.

"Nyota, what is wrong?"

Nyota visibly forced herself to smile. "Nothing, mama ... we, ah, just had a few words, that's all."

"You had words with your Captain? This is permitted?" Her father asked with a frown of his own.

"No, baba, it's not what you think." Nyota hastened to explain.

Jim smoothly interceded. "Dumela, rra (Hello, Sir)." Dumela, mma (Hello, Madam)." O tsogile jang? (How are you?)"

He was well aware that all Bantu people spoke some form of Swahili, but they were from different tribal groups scattered across several African nations. Swahili was the universal language Bantu tribes used to communicate with each other, just as English was the common intergalactic Federation language, but each tribal group had its own language, or a language adopted or adapted from the country in which they lived. For the Bantu tribal group of the Niger-Congo Language family living in Botswana, that language was Tswana or Setswana. More importantly, he could tell by the look on their faces that Nyota's parents were impressed.

"Re tsogile sentle, rra, (We are well, sir,)" Alima responded with due courtesy to his formal greeting. "Wena, o tsogile jang? (How are you?)"

"Ke tsogile sentle, mma, (I am well, madam,)" Jim replied with a bright smile.

Nyota beamed at him and then faced the screen. "I have news." She paused and took Jim's hand hesitently in hers. "Captain Kirk and I ... I mean, Jim and I are getting married."

"Ah," Razi said, as if that explained things, and then, "Ah! That is news indeed!"

"But this is wonderful news!" Alima exclaimed. "Show us your ring!"

"We don't actually have a ring yet," Jim explained. "I'm having one specially designed for Nyota."

"I see. Well, let me me know if you need any advice on merchants," Razi offered with a smile. "If there is something we know about in Botswana, it's diamonds."

"Thank you sir."

"Nyota, how did this happen?" Alima asked softly, with a secretive gleam in her eyes.

Jim was intrigued by the look on Nyota's face.

"I ... we've spent a lot of time together, since the break up ... with Spock, I mean. And it ... it just happened."

Now there was amusement in Alima's eyes. "I see," she said with a smile. "So then, when are you getting married?"

Between the two of them, Jim and Nyota explained the details, including Hanna's generous offer of help.

"Are you certain Mrs. Wilson is willing to do so much without payment?" Alima asked anxiously.

"Yes, Mrs. Uhura-"

"Alima, please."

Jim ducked his head and smiled. "Alima. The Wilsons are like family to me. Hanna said this was their wedding present to us, and most of the cost is covered in the Carnival wedding packet."

"That's right, mama. So the only real cost to Hanna will be the wedding invitations and the cost for her time, for which we are grateful."

"Yes," Alima released a held breath, "we are very grateful to her. Jim, you must complile your list of names as soon as possible ... and how many groomsmen you will have as well, so we can have the right number of bridesmaids."

"Mama, we really don't want a large wedding."

"Oh poosh-pa, girl! This is your wedding! And of course you must have a designer make your gown, Nyota. I will contact Mrs. Wilson right away and ask her to find us the best designer!"

"I'll send Hanna my list of names tomorrow," Jim promised.

"Good, very good. Oh there is so much to do! And Bibi will be so happy with the news!"

Jim gave Nyota a quizical look. "Bibi?"

"My father's mother."

Razi rose from his chair. "I will get her-"

"No!" Nyota blurted out. "No, baba ... I'll call her later. It's almost time for my shift, so I'd better go. The Enterprise will be in space-dock for the next two months, so you can reach me at home in San Francisco after tomorrow."

"All right," Alima nodded. "It will take me a couple of weeks to arrange things here, but I'll come to San Francisco as soon as I can. Oh there is so much to do!"

"Kiss bibi for me, baba."

"I will. Jim, I look forward to spending time with you."

Jim smiled. "Me too, sir. Goodbye." Jim ended the transmission and glanced over at Nyota.

"So ... what was that all about?" He leaned a hip against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What was what about?"

"You know, that look on your face when your mother asked how we'd gotten together ... not wanting to talk to your Bibi?"

Nyota raised her chin. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Then she turned and fled his quarters.


Later that afternoon Jim made a ship-wide announcement about their engagement. The Bridge crew, Sulu and Chekov in particular, shared secret smiles but otherwise didn't seem that surprised at the news. In fact, Jim was completely surprised by the lack of surprise from his crew. Even Cupcake, wearing a huge shit-eating grin, stopped Jim coming out of the Turbolift to offer his congratulations.

The next day, the Enterprise space-docked at Starbase One above Earth, and the crew disembarked for a two-month leave.