Jamie
Chris just looked at her. She expected… she wasn't sure what she expected, the slow smile that crossed his lips was not it. "Say something, Chris." The silence was killing her; he took a breath and spoke.
"Won't be easy, but you know that. Your parentage will be one issue. Being married to me, even if we don't tell a lot of people, will also be an issue. You will be under a microscope and there will be those who judge you harshly because of your family." She opened her mouth to speak but Chris put up his hand and continued. "I think you'll be an amazing officer. I've seen you in action and I read the reports from the Lovell. If this is the path you want to take, I'll take it with you." He paused, "You still have time to take the admissions exam for the upcoming semester." Jamie was shocked, she thought that it would be harder to convince him but she should have known better. Chris has always been able to read her, even more now. He had to have seen this coming. Chris looked at her for a moment and chuckled. As if reading her mind, "I figured you'd want to join after the Hernandez, I was going to talk about it then but we got too busy."
The Hernandez is where she really began to consider joining the fleet, it wasn't even saving the crew that got her attention, it was the ability to see a problem, form a plan and execute it that got her thinking. The same was true for the Lovell, yes, she had been in engineering, but with so many systems down or failing, she had to figure out the best way to keep everyone alive.
"I want to go tactical."
"You have too many proficiencies for anything else. One, believe it or not, thinks you have what it takes. She and Shran both brought it up on the Yorktown. I'm not the only one in your corner," Chris said with a smile, he was right. She could easily go into engineering but it would be a waste of her other talents. It didn't surprise her that Shran talked to him about her joining the fleet, and if she thought about it, One didn't surprise her either.
"Anything else, oh wise one?" she asked with a smirk.
"I talked to Richard today, after he laughed at the idea of me getting married like he did when I first told him, he said he'd be honored to officiate. When do you want to get married?" Jamie thought about it for a few minutes and smiled.
"No time like the present."
Charlie
He was not surprised by this at all. Charlie knew after his talk with Jamie earlier today that things were going to change soon; he didn't know it would be this soon but he wasn't surprised. When his son comm'ed and told him what was going on, Charlie was thrilled. He had always considered Jamie to be part of the family, after today, she really would be. What did surprise Charlie was seeing Admiral Jonathon Archer and Doctor Phlox get out of the hovercar in front of his home in Mojave. Jamie walked right up to them and hugged the men who helped found the Federation, first Archer and then Phlox.
"T'Pol and Malcolm send their greetings and congratulations, they're both off planet." He heard the Admiral say to her. She must have seen the look Charlie had given them because she chuckled.
"I've known Jon and Phlox almost as long as I've known you, Charlie. Hoshi told me that if I ever got the chance to meet them, I should. So, I did. His yeoman tried to kick me out of the building, that guy's face face when the Admiral told him who I was... priceless."She didn't say anything else about it but Charlie understood. To Jamie, Hoshi was family. The commander had served with Archer until Enterprise was decommissioned and with Phlox after that, these men were Sato's family. If she couldn't be there for Jamie, then they would stand in her place; it brought a smile to Charlie's face.
"Jamie." Everyone looked over as Hobelia stepped outside, "It's time to get dressed, sweetie."
Jamie smiled, gave Charlie, Jon and Phlox a quick, "See ya later," and followed Hobelia inside.
Chris
"Nervous?" Chris looked up to find Boyce walking toward him.
"Ha, not even close. We could have done this in Richard's office hours ago but I wanted her to have something special. Jamie's not the girl who dreamed about her wedding her whole life but she deserves one." The first time they talked about having a wedding, Jamie had told him that she never thought she'd ever get married; she never thought she'd live long enough. The only thing she wanted, aside from Chris, was to have Cody there; the rest of the details didn't matter.
They decided to get married at the Pike's home in Mojave. Hobelia put everything together in a few hours; there wasn't much to do but the fact that his step-mom had it all figured out already lead Chris to believe that she had been planning this for the past year, at least.
"I knew you two would end up together since that first day on the Aldrin." Chris looked at his friend. Phil smiled and continued, "The way you move around each other is almost like magnets, even back then. I'm a believer in love at first sight, you and Jamie are a prime example of it. The way you look at her, it's like all the secrets of the universe are in her eyes."
"I was that obvious, Phil?" Chris thought back to the first days on the Aldrin.
"Not to most people. To me and Charlie, though... Yea, you were. I can't speak for your dad, but I thought that everything you saw down there was the cause. Then you let Jamie move into your condo and I figured out that she was the change." Phil paused, "I've known you a long time, Chris. I'm happy for you. Now, let's get in there to that wonderful woman who wants to marry you."
Jamie
"You look beautiful, darlin'. I would say somethin' like he won't know what hit 'em, but he knows." Jamie chuckled, Zane had a way of getting right to the point. "You happy?" he asked her as Hobelia finished her hair. She didn't need to answer him, her smile said it all. Jamie was wearing a simple, white, knee-length dress with a square neckline and barely there make-up. She left her hair down; Hobelia managed to convince her to put some curls at the ends.
She decided against shoes; Hobelia and Zane both gave her a look, Cody just smiled and took off his shoes. "We used to run around barefoot. In all our best memories of growing up, none of us had on shoes," is what he told them. Memories of running around the colony with Percy, Ella and Tommy brought a smile to Jamie's face.
"Since you're going barefoot too, do you want to do me a favor? You can say no if you want, I know we're keeping it simple and there isn't really an aisle, but… Cody, will you give me away? I know it's really old scho…" Cody cut her off from his spot at the end of the bed.
"I'd be honored, Jimmy. Now stop your rambling, cuz. I got something for you. Zane, Hobelia can you guys give us a minute?" he asked. Hobelia gave Jamie's hand a squeeze and left the room.
"See ya down there," Zane kissed her cheek and followed Hobelia.
Cody picked up his PADD from the table, he entered a few commands and handed it to her.
"Hey Jamie!" It was a video of Kevin. "Cody comm'ed and told me that you were getting married, so we put this together for you. I just want to say congrats, I bet you look really pretty. You always look pretty though. Cody has my comm info, give me a holler sometime. Thank you for saving me and I love you. Oh, yea. Tell Mister Chris that if he hurts you, I'll get him. Talk to you later."
When the video ended, Jamie looked up at her cousin with tears in her eyes, "He's so big. I knew where he was but his aunt wouldn't let me talk to him, how did you get through?" Jamie kept track of her kids but their families wouldn't allow her contact, "we don't want them to be reminded of it," was their reason, like they could ever forget.
He shrugged, "Not important. Now, let's get you to that man of yours."
Cody
Cody felt like a proud papa when he gave Jamie away. Chris and Jamie's wedding was small, even compared to his. There eight people there: Boyce, Hobelia, Charlie, Archer, Phlox, Shran, Zane and Cody. Chris' friend, Admiral Richard Barnett, who officiated, made nine. The pair decided to go with classic vows and exchanged them on the back patio as the sun went down. Seeing the looks on Chris and Jamie's faces was something he wouldn't forget, it was going right under his own wedding. They didn't go with a normal reception either, but there were speeches.
"My turn. I'ma keep it short and sweet since I got the threat out of the way when you proposed." That earned Cody a few laughs from everyone. "I wanted to thank Charlie and Hobelia. You guys love Jamie and me like we've always been family and I just needed to say thank you. I wish our parents could have been here; mom and dad, Uncle George and Aunt Win would have loved Chris. Sam too, although he would've given you a hard time for marrying his little sister. You guys have loved each other since you met, just took you a while to get here. Never forget to love and take care of each other. I love you both."
Chris
"Wake up, Misses Pike." Chris smiled when she rolled over and pulled the pillow ever her head.
"Go away," she groaned.
"I can't do that, beautiful. You're going to miss the test if you don't get up." She moved the pillow and glared at him.
"How are you so awake? We didn't exactly sleep last night."
Chris chuckled at his wife, "Coffee, go grab a shower and I'll get you some."
Jamie sat up, "Does it come with food?"
"Only because I love you, now go get ready. Since I have to go to HQ too, we'll ride together." Chris gave her a quick kiss and made his way to the kitchen.
Jamie decided to take the exam after they got back from Mojave. After the wedding, Hobelia and Charlie cleared everyone out of the house and the newlyweds stayed for three days. The entrance exam to Starfleet Academy could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on the applicant. Chris had no doubt that Jamie will excel, or as Cody put it "Kick that exam's ass." She asked him what his test was like but he couldn't tell her, he didn't want to give anything away.
"You are an evil man, Christopher," Jamie said as she walked toward him.
"How's that, Jamison?" he asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.
"You kept me up all night," she whispered.
"Didn't hear any complaints last night. Heard 'don't stop, oh God, Chris, don't stop' but no complaints." Chris pressed a kiss to her hair, "Sit down and eat." Jamie moved to take a seat at the counter.
"Sir, yes, sir."
Jamie
Four hours and twenty-three minutes for the main test and Psychological Evaluation. Not the record, that was three hours and some change, but she still had a good time with one of the highest scores.
"Miss Kirk." Jamie stood up and followed the officer, whose name she didn't know, into a room with three officers. The oral exam is where command rank officers interview the applicant to assess their personality and commitment to a career in Starfleet. The unnamed officer directed her towards a seat and left the room.
"Miss Kirk, I'm Captain Erickson, I'll be in charge of this session. Before we begin, is there anything you would like to ask?" Captain Erickson was the officer seated in the middle.
"I don't have any questions, sir, but I would ask that you address me as 'doctor'." Jamie had a feeling that this was going to suck.
"Doctor?" The officer -another captain judging by the rank on his sleeves- to Erickson's right asked.
"Yes, sir. I have double doctorates from the University of California at Berkeley. It's Doctor Kirk." The three men nodded. She's worked for Starfleet for the last eight months, she still does. Didn't they read her file? Jamie knew the answer to that question. Captain Erickson quickly scrolled through something on his PADD, most likely her file.
"Our apologies, Doctor Kirk. Let's begin."
Cody
"Hey, cuz. Where's my better half… and yours?" Jamie asked. He smiled and pointed towards the bedroom.
"Chris is changing. Zane is in the lab," he told her. Jamie took of her jacket, kicked off her shoes and sat on the couch next to him.
"You okay, Cody?"
"Z got offered a job at the Starfleet research facility," he whispered.
Jamie looked at her cousin, "The one here?" He nodded. "But you think they'll ask him to go off planet. You know Zane-iac wouldn't do something like that without talking to you first."
Cody took a deep breath, "Am I being an idiot, Jimmy?" She shook her head and pulled her cousin into a hug.
"No more than usual. You love him and you don't want to live on a colony again. Nobody can hold that against you, he knows what happened. Talk to him." The day after they got engaged, Cody sat Zane down and told him about what happened on Tarsus. The next time Jamie saw Zane, he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "I always knew you were a badass."
"How'd it go?" Chris asked as he entered the room. She shook her head and told him what happened with Captain Erickson.
"Well, that it?" her cousin asked. Cody wanted to know if she got in, like he didn't already know. Between her brains and her sheer determination, they'd be dumb not to let her in.
"I start at the beginning of the next semester, as a second year cadet. Before you ask, I tested out of a ton of stuff, I only have some mandatory first year classes but the rest are second and third year," Jim told them.
Cody smiled as he watched Chris pull Jamie into a kiss, "And that's my cue to exit."
Chris released Jamie so she could hug her cousin, "See you later, cuz. I love you."
Cody smiled, "Love you too, genius. Night guys."
Chris
As soon as the door closed, he pulled her into a kiss.
"Missed me?" Chris didn't answer, just nodded as he kissed her neck. "We aren't going to make it to our bedroom are we?"
He shrugged, "Might." He unzipped her dress and slid it off her body. "I like this one." Jamie pulled his shirt over his head and placed a kiss over his heart. Chris closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. Every time she kissed him there, it sent a jolt of electricity through his body. They were not going to make it to the bed. Chris kicked off his pants and pulled his wife against his body. He kissed her jaw and then her lips while pulling the pin out of her hair, letting it fall. They practically ripped their undergarments off before Jamie pushed him onto the couch and straddled him, "Well, hello, Misses Pike." Jamie's eyes locked with Chris' as she slowly slid onto him. "Oh God, J."
He held her hips as she took her time moving over him, Chris kissed any part of her that he could reach. She rode him gently at first and he rose to meet her. Soon, her rhythm faltered, becoming less controlled, Chris didn't know if he would last much longer, she felt so good, so right.
"Chris," she whimpered. He looked at her, eyes half-closed, skin flushed and glistening with sweat, mumbling his name over and over again. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Jamie continued to move against him, then she exploded, quivering around him. Chris kept kissing and caressing her body, watching as she fell apart in his arms. He tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her down for a kiss, tangling his tongue with hers. Chris changed their position, laying Jamie on the couch and positioning himself over her. As he slid into her, "Chris," fell from her lips. He wanted to go slow but the more he moved, the more she moaned, her body tightening around him. Chris pushed her over the edge again, this time he went with her.
"Yea, this my favorite spot on the couch," he muttered against her shoulder, earning the most beautiful laugh from his wife.