Five Years

Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: I do not own anything mentioned in the following fanfiction, except for the character of Penelope Richmond. She is of my own design.


"Wow, Momma, you look pretty!"

She looked off to the side of the mirror as she fiddled with her earring, smiling at Jake who was standing in the washroom doorway with a shocked, giddy look on his face. She was just fastening her dangling silver earrings when she saw James come into the doorway behind Jake, his eyes locked on his cuff as he messed with his cufflink.

Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at him, her eyes dragging themselves up and over the expanse of his body as she took in how he looked. It was simultaneously the sexiest yet classiest he'd ever looked; dressed in black dress pants and a crisp black dress shirt, he tucked it in but had the sleeves rolled up to about his elbows and a few buttons undone at the top. His hair was neatly tousled and his eyes were sparkling and bright, something she realized as soon as he looked up and into the mirror a second later.

"Wow," he said in an almost whisper, his voice barely audible as she lowered her hands from her earring with a shy smile.

"You don't look too shabby yourself, sailor," she teased as she looked back at herself in the mirror to finish up her look. Her hair was down and in tumbling curls, falling romantically over her shoulders and framing her face delicately. Her brown eyes were sharper and more vivid, rimmed in dark kohl liner with a smoky shadow on her lids that seemed to make her stare smoulder. Her lips were finished with a matte pale pink and her skin seemed to sparkle in the light. Not half bad, if she did say so herself.

She ran a brush of translucent powder along the bride of her nose before spritzing herself with her perfume, shooting him an amused look.

"Sunflowers," she said as she raised her perfume bottle for him to see, catching him in a stare.

"What? Oh, yeah. Sunflowers. Wow, Pen, you look . . . ," he said as she turned to look at him, resting her hands on the counter behind her as she stood up on her heels, trying to keep her legs from teetering.

It was hardly her everyday wear. She knew the dress was something so far out of her range of fashion that everyone was going to be stunned, and that was exactly why she'd bought it. She'd spent the past five years wearing kid friendly clothing as she raised Jake. She was going to have her first night out in a while, and she was determined to make the most out of it; sexy dress, sky high heels and all . Plus, she'd read in a magazine a few weeks ago that when going to reunions, one should always strive to look their best. And for some reason, she knew that her best wasn't jeans and a cotton tank.

"I know. Not exactly something a single mother, professor of theoretical physics would wear," she teased as she turned back towards the mirror to fiddle with her dress, tugging at the hem line.

She'd gone to the mall earlier that day with only two requirements for her dress; one, it had to be purple and two, it had to be something special; and both of those requirements revolved around James. She remembered during their three years at the Academy that he'd mentioned on more than one occasion how great she looked in purple; "It brings out your eyes", she could still hear him say so that's where the colour preference came from. The specialness was just to make the night something to remember; she didn't know when she'd been seeing all of them again, including James, so she wanted to make an impression. Nothing wrong with that, right? Sure, deep down she knew her desire to look good was rooted in her undeniable renewed affection for James, but she was choosing to ignore that. It was a little too clichéd for her to swallow as her true intention, so she stuck to the 'night to remember' shtick she took time perfecting.

The stylist at the department store she'd gone into looking for a dress took one look at her and managed to fetch a dress for her so perfect that she thought the woman was a mind reader. It was a dull metallic amethyst in colour and hugged her in all the right places, while remaining classy and age appropriate. She loved it, and she knew that James and everyone else would too. They'd always complained during their time at the Academy that Penelope's idea of a dress was her knee length, turtleneck Cadet dress, so she was planning on stunning them all.

The shoes on her feet were four inch silver works of art that seemed to elongate her already mile long legs to even longer lengths. They were about three inches taller than anything else she owned and cost about the price of four or five pairs of sneakers, but the stylist at the store she'd been shopping at earlier that day said they went fantastically with the dress she'd picked out, so she gave in and bought them. But as she stood on them now, her feet wobbling minutely due to the highness of the heel, she was second guessing that decision.

"No, it's really not," he added in, a few seconds later after he finally finished taking her in, taking a step into the bathroom as he scratched the back of his head with a confused look on his face.

"Damn," he said with finality as she gave her curls another spritz of hair spray, his lips pursing together as he let out a low whistle.

"Stop it," she chided as she glared at him humorously in the mirror, feeling her heart skip a beat from the look in his eyes. She looked away a second later and began collecting the things she needed to put into her black clutch purse, busying herself to keep her mind off of how devilishly handsome he looked. She remembered the last time he wore a dress shirt around her, and even more, she remembered how it looked on her bedroom floor the next morning when she woke up.

"We uh . . . We should get going. We don't want to be late," he said a second later, Penelope catching out of the corner of her eye his head shaking and a hand going to his face to rub his eyes.

"Yeah, you're right. Is Jake ready?" she asked as she stuffed her lip gloss and pressed powder into her clutch before moving back into her bedroom, gathering her handheld communicator, license, credit card, and some cash.

"Yep, all dressed. Gotta say ,Pen, kid wears slacks better than I do," James teased as he followed her out of the washroom and into her bedroom, standing in the doorway watching her as she stuffed everything into her small bag and grabbed the black cardigan she'd put on her bed before moving towards the door.

"Well, the kid has two awfully good looking parents, so I expect nothing less. Jacob George Kirk, are you ready to go?" she called into the hallway as they headed down, Jake popping out of his bedroom a second later with a big grin on his face.

"You bet, Momma!" he cried as he adjusted the green paisley tie around his neck that stood in stark contrast with his black dress pants and crisp white shirt. He looked adorable in his little get up, his dark brown hair neatly tousled and his blue eyes sparkling with the delight only a night out with his parents could bring.

"Jacob Kirk, you look mighty dashing if I do say so myself," she said as she bent down to his level to further adjust his tie, giving her son a big smile in return before playfully nudging his nose with her own in an Eskimo kiss.

"Alright, let's go," she said finally as she stood back up and reached down to grab Jake's hand, the three of them moving out of the hallway and into the foyer. She took one final look in a mirror, catching James' eyes for the briefest of seconds, before they headed towards the door, Penelope's stomach butterflies revving up at the idea of introducing her and James' son to the people she almost lived with for three years while at the Academy. They didn't stop fluttering around for the entire forty five minute drive to the restaurant and got even worse as they got out of the car.

"Relax, Pen, they're going to love him," James soothed as she slid out of the car, reaching out to take his hand for stability.

"It's not that. It's just . . . god, what are they going to think of me? No offense, James, but you slept with a lot of girls at the Academy, and I'm not exactly proud to be one of them," she hissed in retaliation as Jake stood obliviously at James' side, peering up at his parents with big, blue eyes. Some of her best friends were just a mere short walk away from where she was right now and the entirety of the situation was hitting her in full force as they stood there.

"You're not proud? Penny, we have an amazing son," James replied in a hushed tone, his eyes narrowing in confusion and disbelief as she continued to glance around nervously, not keeping her eyes on one thing for more than one second at a time.

"I know that, James, I do. But what I'm not proud of is being a proverbial notch in your bed post," she sniped at him in a quiet voice as Jake just continued to stand there with a smile on his face.

"I already told you, it wasn't like that—" he started before she cut him off.

"Maybe not, but seriously, James. I prided myself on not being one of those . . . friendly girls you slept with. Now, I thank God everyday for bring Jake into my life, but that doesn't change how I feel about being on par with Georgie Simpson or Kandi Kristianson," she cut in bitterly, glaring off into an opposite direction with a scowl on her face.

"Penelope . . . look at me," James said in a low voice a few seconds later, tilting her head back to face his with his curled index finger.

"You are not on par with Georgie or Kandi. You are my best friend, and you mean the world to me, Pen. You and Jake. I'm so proud of that night, because it gave me Jake, and you should be too. Forget about the rest of it. They'll all be too caught up in meeting the little guy that they won't even remember all the rest of that stuff," James said quietly as she looked at him dead in the eyes, his sapphire orbs peering comfortingly into hers as he ran a hand down her naked arm, his hand gently lingering around hers as their finger tips brushed each other.

"Alright?" he asked a second later as he interlaced their digits, her skin almost blazing on fire as her sense became all too aware of his hand in hers and his eyes on hers as well. She both craved and hated what he did to her.

"Yeah," she said eventually as she let out a breath, looking back down at Jake who was still standing beside James with a smile on his lips, her son's blue eyes immediately squashing all the butterflies in her stomach.

"Ready to go meet Momma and Daddy's friends, little man?" she asked as she playfully ruffled Jake's hair with her free hand as her son ran away with a giggle, Penelope and James remaining hand in hand as they followed Jake towards the entrance to the restaurant.

It felt oddly comforting, walking hand in hand with James. Comforting and normal, as if she had done it every day for the past twenty seven years; as if she were born to do it. It was comforting, normal, and unnerving. She didn't want to feel this way about him, not if he was leaving in five days. She hated her heart for stumbling back into the oddly soothing world of being in love with James Tiberius Kirk, because she knew how hard it was going to be to fall back out of love in five days time.

The minute the door to the restaurant opened, her ears were hit by the sound of gentle jazz music, her nose was hit by the scent of spicy oregano, and her eyes were assaulted by darkness, the only type of darkness that came with a really expensive restaurant and dim lighting. She took one step into the dinner place and immediately felt like she stepped into a time travelling machine; Nico's had been their regular spot for a dinner out back at the Academy, and she had spent so many hours with James, Nyota, and Leonard in it that she thought they ought to be shareholders. And by the looks, sounds, and smell of things, nothing had really changed.

She approached the Maître d's podium and gave her the name that James had told her the reservation was made under. The stiff looking middle aged man manning the post moved off to the side and asked them to follow him, Penelope's stomach giving a final flop as she grabbed Jake's hand and felt James' press itself lightly against her lower back. Once again she was immediately calmed by his presence and she glanced over her shoulder at him, finding his face very close to hers with a smile on his lips and faint mischief in his eyes that made her spine shiver. She looked away a second later and focused on not tripping in her heels, stepping carefully as they followed the waiter into the restaurant and back to the private party section she knew all too well.

"Penelope! Oh my god!" she heard Nyota Uhura's all too familiar voice shriek as the tall, leggy dark skinned beauty came into view. They finally stepped into the semi secluded room, and the entire party became privy to their presence, seven sets of eyes flickering between James, herself, and Jake. Penelope just stood there, her hand gripped firmly onto her son's as she awkwardly bathed in the attention, a silence settling in for a few seconds as the all became aware of the little person standing beside her.

"Let's just get this out of the way, shall we?" she said structurally as she moved to stand behind Jake, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Everyone I'd like you to meet Jake. Our son," she said with a smile as she ridded herself of any withstanding nervousness and let herself be immensely proud of the boy standing in front of her. She felt a hand gently tickle her lower back and she cocked her head ever so slightly to the side in acknowledgement. James was right; she had nothing to be ashamed about. She was utterly blessed to have Jake. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Nobody moved from their spots around the small bar in the corner of the room for a few seconds as she watched them all just stare at Jake, taking him in critically. It was Nyota's Mother who made the first move.

"Well, I'll be. This may be the handsomest four year old I've ever laid my eyes on," she said in the same caring yet playful tone that made Nyota's mom so unique. Penelope watched as the elderly yet still youthful women wearing a black and white traditional African dress swished forward towards them with a winning smile on her face, her eyes still trained in on Jake.

"Jacob Kirk, I'm Elenya Uhura. It's a pleasure to meet you, son," Elenya said as she bent down slowly to get on level with Jake before sticking out a hand in greeting, Penelope and James watching the exchange along with the others.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Uhura!" Jake said with the clutch of four year old enthusiasm, his remark enlisting a gentle chuckle from all present parties as Penelope ruffled his hair.

This seemed to break the ice considerably, as second later the rest of them all moved forward. Nyota, Spock, Chekov, Scotty, Sulu, and Leonard all took turns introducing themselves to Jake before moving onto greeting Pen and James, Jake running off with Elenya who moved to the table set for dinner to sit down and chat with the youngster.

"Nice work, you two," Leonard or Leo as she affectionately used to call him, chirped as soon as Jake was out of ear.

"Easy," Penelope warned as she accepted the martini class full of pink liquid Nyota handed to her, the Communication officer looking absolutely stunning in a curve hugging, off the shoulder midnight blue dress.

"He's right though, Pen, he's such a cutie," Nyota gushed in response as she placed a hand on Penelope's forearm, shooting her a playfully pained look as they looked over to the dinner table where Elenya was showing Jake something she had in her purse.

"So how old is the little tyke?" Scotty asked a second later as he sipped generously from his crystal tumbler filled decently with amber liquid and ice. The Engineer was dressed in black slacks and a dark green dress shirt that was tucked in and styled like James', Scotty looking every bit as Scottish and cheery as he use to.

"He's four," Penelope responded as she took a healthy sip from her glass, knowing that her comrades were smart enough to put it all together.

"Four? How can dat . . . oye," Chekov said confusedly before he put the pieces together for himself, an awkward realization setting in amongst them.

"He seems like a great kid, guys," Sulu observed as they once again looked over at Jake and Elenya, who were rooted in what looked like a deep conversation.

"I would have to agree. The child seems to be quite genetically superior," Spock chimed in as he voiced his opinions for the first time, keeping his usual stoic attitude and stern looking face about him as he added his two cents into the pot.

Five years hadn't affected her Spock-translation skills at all, she was happy to see. He had said that Jake was genetically superior, but she understood that he meant that he too thought that Jake was a great child. She smiled both inwardly and outwardly to herself. Five years had changed a lot, but some things had stayed the same.

The eight adults mingled around the bar for a while as Elenya and Jake continued bonding at the table, Penelope fitting right back into the swing of things as if she'd never left. The conversation eventually moved off of Jake and Penny and James' tumultuous one night stand to other things, Penny learning about the new upgrades the Enterprise was undergoing and just exactly how James had spent the past five years aboard her.

"I still remember that one time we were engaged right outside the Alpha quadrant, and we were still so worked up from our last encounter with the Klingons that Sulu accidentally destroyed a communication satellite," Nyota mentioned as they all gave an appreciative chuckle while the each nursed separate drinks. She was sitting on one of the bar stools with her Cosmo resting on the bar top while James was holding court right behind her, resting his arm on the edge of the bar so that she was almost sitting into him, an easy smile on his face as he remembered what Nyota was talking about.

"God, Fed reamed me out about that for weeks. It was this new state of the art com satellite that they'd just installed, and Sulu blew it to hell and back. Three billion dollars of technology destroyed in seconds at the hands of a trigger-happy helmsmen," James added mockingly as Sulu bashfully looked down at his dress shoes, the Asian man grinning embarrassedly as his crew mates chuckled at his mess up.

"Yeah yeah, laugh away. But in my defence, they shaped the thing like a Klingon war bird. They were kind of asking for it to get destroyed," Sulu said in pathetic defence of himself, enlisting another round of laughter from them all.

"Ever miss it, Pen?" Nyota asked a second later from her own perch on the bar stool next to her, surveying Pen with the same gentle yet fiery eyes Uhura was known for.

"Sometimes. But then I remember how absolutely terrifying those few days were, and then I look at Jake and realize I wouldn't trade my life now for anything," she said honestly, giving a genuine smile to her old friend before looking back over to Jake and Elenya, smiling deeper.

"You're teaching at the Academy, right?" Sulu asked in clarification as she took a sip from her cocktail, nodding a few times.

"Yeah. Theoretical physics and transportation technology," she said as she grinned at Scotty, her response withdrawing an appreciative smile from the engineer.

"Aye, our favourite! How are the kids doing? Any rising talents I need to be worried about?" Scotty asked as the rest of them listened intently, Penelope smiling to herself.

"No. The only person you need to be worried about taking your job is me," she teased as she finished off her cocktail and signalled to the bartender to make her another one, feeling the effects of her first alcoholic drink in a while. She'd never been a particularly big drinker so even after one drink she felt her blood begin to course hotter than usual. The bartender was just refilling her glass with the sugary pink liquid when she felt gentle finger tips running themselves along the back of her dress on her bare skin, exciting her body and causing goosebumps to immediately emerge.

"So you're a Dad, eh, James. Well, can't say I didn't see that one comin'. But you sure picked one hell of lady to have a kid with, that's for sure," Leo said as he raised his glass to her in acknowledgement, Penelope grinning back at the Doc, who was showing a rare and fleeting smile. He was dressed in dark pants and a crimson red shirt that brought out both his sea-foam green eyes and his moody scowl.

"Funny enough, that's what he said, too," Pen chimed in teasingly as she looked over her shoulder at James who just grinned back down at her, giving her a concealed wink that made her heart flutter.

The conversation lead to something else and eventually broke off into two different sections, leaving Penny and James with Leo while the others discussed something else.

"So how is he, is he healthy?" Leo demanded as he glared with clinical intensity over to Jake at the table before back at Penny, his eyes stern.

"As far as I know, and as far as the Doctors can tell," Penny chipped in with a smile, doing nothing to ease Leo's gaze.

"Still. Kid looks a little skinny. You sure you're feeding him enough? Does he have all his vaccines?" Leo asked with the same demanding tone as he shot another look over at Jake, withdrawing a quiet chuckle from Penny.

She should have expected this. Three years of being Leo's friend had given her great insight into his mind, starting with the fact that the Doctor part of his brain never really quite shut off. He was constantly diagnosing and running through treatment plans in his mind, something she learned to admire about him. So the scrutiny she was now facing about Jake's health care was something she should have expected.

"Everything's in tip top shape Leo, I promise," Penny replied with a rye smile as Leo continued to mumble things under his breath to himself.

"I know I said this already but . . . you two did good. He seems like one hell of a brat," Leo said with unusual sincerity as he looked back over to them, nodding to them once before looking away.

"Thanks Bones. He's a good kid, you should get to know him," James added as he took a sip from his crystal tumbler a quarter filled with a deep amber liquid, a mischievous smile playing on his lips as Penny's eyes flickered from him back to Leo whose face was now blanched.

"Alright now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I said he seems like a good kid, not that I want to be a babysitter," Leo chided as he shot Penny and James stern looks, taking a hefty swig from the bottle of beer he had in his hands. They both chuckled appreciatively as the Doctor just stood there unknowing, shooting them another set of dangerous looks that they both just grinned at.

"So what are you two doing anyways. Living in sin, I hear?" Leo prodded in his typical bluntness, a faint blush coming to her cheeks instantly.

"We're not living in sin, Leo. James is just staying with me so he can have a more hands on role in everything," Penelope explained, thankfully without stuttering as she took another dainty sip of her drink, tossing a few curls over her shoulder and out of her face as she watched Leo raise his eyebrows and look down at his beer.

"I'm sure he's putting his hands on something," Leo said as Penny blushed again, glaring at the Doctor while James just chuckled quietly.

"Easy," she hissed at him again as her eyes flashed warningly towards the Doc who was just staring at her pointedly. She knew Leo had a point; the two of them living together did raise eyebrows, especially with their history. But still, he didn't have to go insinuate anything.

"Oh, come on. He put his hands on it five years ago, so you can't kill a guy for thinking that he still is," Leo said plainly as her blush deepened, Penny now too distraught with embarrassment to even come back to that.

"Take it easy, Bones. I'm just staying with her to get to know Jake," James cut in as he saved her, Penny once again feeling his finger tips ghost themselves along the top hem of her dress on her back.

"Why? We're leaving in less than a week and we're not scheduled back for years. What's the point?" Leo asked critically as his green eyes glanced harshly over at James who face went still, a faint smile on his lips as his eyes fell from the Doctor over to Penny who was now turned to look at him.

"The point is I want him to know his Dad isn't a jerk. That his Dad is a good man doing good work and that I love him very much. It doesn't matter if I'm leaving. I just want him to know that," James said in a fleeting moment of vulnerability that she knew was hard for him to show, a side of him that only she and Leo had ever had the privilege of seeing.

"But why?" Leo pressed, his professional mind unable to comprehend James' emotions at the moment. There was a silence between them all as the two of them watched James look down at his glass and give a small shrug, his shoulders rising and falling.

"Because that's what I would have wanted to know about my dad," he replied in a quiet voice, Penny's heart sinking into her stomach as her eyes kept themselves locked onto James' face, his head still pointed down.

Words couldn't describe the fury of emotions and thoughts brewing in her. At his words, she felt both immensely sad and proud of what he'd said. Sad because she knew how not knowing his father had affected him and proud because of the man that he'd become. She finally understood why James was so determined to be in Jake's life, if even for a short while. She finally got it.

But more than anything, she felt a sudden surge of pure love shoot straight through her chest. It was incalculable and infallible, her love for him. This was him, the guy she loved, in his purest form. No strings, no holding back. Just James Tiberius Kirk, the caring, gentle, kind, funny, intelligent, compassionate man she'd grown to love five years ago and never really got over.

Neither her or Bones really said anything for a while, despite the fact that a rowdy conversation was going on right beside them. In fact, the next thing that was said to them was a waiter coming in to tell them that dinner was ready, and they all began moving towards the table. She slid off her stool and waited for James to be by her side when she slowly interlaced her fingers with his, sending him a single look with her eyes that conveyed everything she was feeling at that moment.

They just stood there for a split second, hand in hand, eyes locked on each other before James' lips curled upward in a smile in comprehension of what she was saying, his eyes looking down to their hands briefly before back up at Penny's, a familiar fire burning in them. The same fire from before, the fire that made her heart skip a beat and her breath catch in her throat. She gently smiled back and then let go, the pair of them moving to the table without any acknowledgement to the full and complete conversation they'd just had between themselves without even saying a word.

((Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait, I've been perfecting this chapter for a while now because I really want to get this right. It's an important moment for them because they're finally introducing Jake to people and the dynamic of Pen/Jake's relationship changes with the Dad comment. Anyways, lemme know what you think, alright? Thanks for being awesome!))